A Noble Heart
by White Hunter
Summary: Randi, a mixed breed with no bad bone in his body, ends up going on a wild adventure when he is taken into an evil dog's gang instead of his abusive brother by mistake and decides to help Charlie, a con artist of a mutt, find a fortune of a different kind by means of a girl named Anne-Marie.
1. Chapter 1

A Noble Heart

This story was made by both me and emmydisney17. I've been helping her come up with new ideas for her stories and in return she does the same.

Chapter 1

It was just a typical day in New Orleans, the musical and magical place where everything was bursting with life and joy from all corners of the town. It was there that one particular dog found a lot of joy and life to enjoy on this blissful, wonderful day.

Randi, a mixed breed of a Weimaraner and a Pitbull terrier was a lovable and friendly brown dog with a big imagination who loved to daydream about being a hero or just going on adventures with his family whenever they went out for a walk, especially his beloved owner and very best friend Alex. Alex is a seventeen year old teenager who, since birth, had been 'cursed' with something humans call Autism, which means Alex behaves a lot differently than a regular human is supposed to behave, at least that's what Randi understands but even so Randi and Alex still have a lot of fun being together and they would never want anything more than spending time together like any good boy and his dog type of best friends were meant to be.

However, there was only one problem…Spike, Randi's older and meaner brother, who was the complete opposite of Randi in every way. Spike was cruel, abusive, dark hearted, bad tempered and ruthless to a fault. Spike took out his anger on Randi every chance he got, resulting in the poor dog constantly trying to avoid him and hide from his brother or he would end up beaten like the brute had done many times before. Spike even had tried to bite Alex and his parents were worried that Spike was becoming too dangerous to have him around, especially now that Alex's mother was pregnant with a boy (whom they were already naming Dennis) and with the baby just one month due to arrive, they were worried Spike would harm the baby, so they constantly try to get him to become nicer through means of therapy and other calming treatments but nothing worked.

What really hurt the most was that Spike would constantly brag about himself being a pure bred Pitbull Terrier while Randi was 'nothing but a flea bitten, mangy, worthless mutt', a fact that always broke Randi's heart because he looked nothing liked his brother, and as a result of his brother's constant bullying, he began to think that Spike was right about him and that he would never be worth anything or do anything special.

Then one day everything changed.

In the backyard, where the dogs would always be placed whenever the family was away with the parents at work and Alex in school, Randi was trying to get something to eat for supper but as usual Spike kept shoving him out of the way, hogging all the food for himself. Randi knew it was pointless to fight back and so he walked away, his stomach rumbling deeply as the dog sniffled and tried to ignore the hungry feeling but the rumblings couldn't be stopped no matter how hard he tried.

"You know you shouldn't let him treat you like that." A voice said

Randi looked up to see a pair of big dogs looking back at him, one was a male and the other was a female, each one donned some human like accessories like the male wore a hat and the female wore make up, which Randi had never seen on a dog before.

"I know... but I can't stand up to him, he's stronger than me, he abuses me for fun and... Oh, I'm so hungry!" Randi complained, rubbing his empty belly as it continued to roar in hunger.

"You know sugar, we're heading to this place in the bayou where we go to gamble and have fun in this amazing riverside casino for dogs and dogs alone." the female dog said "I'm sure they wouldn't mind if a hungry little ole thing like you came along to try it out."

Randi wasn't so sure about leaving the comforts of his home for this dog only casino he never heard of but he was so hungry he couldn't think about anything else but food. Randi walked up to them and said "Okay, take me to this casino."

"Great, you're going to love it there darling," the female said as Randi opened the gate door with his paws, pushed himself out and then closed it again "And don't worry about a thing, we'll make sure you'll have a wonderful time there, you'll be fed and pampered in no time."

Unaware to the dogs as they kept walking on, Spike was leaving the backyard too, but in the opposite direction, through the wooden fence's old broken plank like a doggy door. Spike had an agenda of his own, he had overheard that his owners were going to get rid of him once and for all and knew that there was no way he was going to spend the rest of his life in a cage, so he contacted some dogs to hook him up with this dog, known as Carface Caruthers and the guy promised to solve all of his problems and make sure he wouldn't end up in the pound. All he had to do was meet the fella at his riverside casino and he'd be set for life.

That is, unless fate had other plans in store for the dogs.


	2. Chapter 2

A Noble Heart

Chapter 2

The walk to the casino was a long one for Randi and the journey was most him talking with the two dogs that were leading him. Randi got to know them a little better and found that they were quite friendly. It wasn't long until they came to the casino, which was a large old boat that had an old dock running towards it. Randi was a little surprised that a casino for dogs is held at such a place.

"Whoa," said Randi as he and his two acquaintances walked across the dock towards the boat. "I've never seen anything like this place before. How was this place made into a casino?"

"Let's just say that this old boat got stuck in the mud when the crew got a little turned around within trying to find their way back to the shores of New Orleans." The male dog answered as he and the female dog lead Randi to an open hatch on the side of the boat. "The entrance to the casino is just here."

Randi hesitated for a moment as excitement and nervousness coursed through his body. He was excited that he would get something to eat at this place, but he was nervous about who he was going to meet in there. This was a new territory for him and Randi wasn't sure what to expect when he walks into that casino. The male dog went through the entrance first before the female dog looked back Randi with a soft smile on her face.

"Come on Sugar, there's nothing to be afraid of," said the female dog.

Randi frowned as he thought over her words before he took a calming breath in through his nostrils. Randi then lifted his head slightly as he felt a little spark of confidence surge through his body before he followed after the female dog. Randi slowly walked through the door into the casino and what he saw there amazed and astonished him to no end.

All around him were dogs of every size and breed were in the casino as they were having a good time enjoying the games and betting on a rat race that was being held within the room. There were wooden barrels with beer poured out into glass cups. Randi was stared around in wonder as he walked further into the casino. So in raptured was Randi with his new perspective that he didn't notice a small dog stopping in front of his path as it paused to scratch at his back furiously. Randi let out a yelp, along with the small dog, as he tripped over and fell to the ground with a thud. Randi quickly shook himself before standing up to see who he had accidently tripped over.

The small dog was a dachshund with a dark brown fur with lighter fur on his muzzle, belly, paws and the tip of his tail. The dog was wearing a sleeveless green shirt and a red baseball cap on his head.

The dog let out a groan as he sat up from the ground and rubbed his back in pain.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry!" exclaimed Randi in a panicked voice. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Oh…that's alright," said the dachshund with a friendly smile as he got up to his feet. "The one who's at fault is me and my fleas."

The dachshund began to scratch himself again before he began to bite at his hindquarters. Randi smiled in sympathy as he watched the dachshund scratch himself.

"Must be a real pain in having annoying passengers who constantly bite you all day, huh" stated Randi.

"You're telling me," said the dachshund as he turned to look at Randi. "That's why they don't call me Itchy for nothing."

Randi smiled at the dog, now known as Itchy, before he spoke.

"My names Randi, a new comer to the casino," he said as he introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you," said Itchy as he held out a paw.

Randi returned the shake as he grasped Itchy's paw with his own as they shook paws. The two soon lapsed into a conversation with each other, while not noticing that Randi's brother had arrived to the casino and was being escorted to Carface's office.


	3. Chapter 3

A Noble Heart

Chapter 3

Randi had never felt so lucky in his whole life as he hung out at the casino, talking to his new friend Itchy and looked on at the marvel of the former boat and how they turned it into a place of entertainment and wonder. He was enjoying himself so much that he forgot what he came here for... until a loud rumbling growl erupted from his stomach.

"Was that you?" Itchy asked in surprise.

"Sorry," Randi said, rubbing his stomach "I forgot how hungry I was, now I'm starving."

"The buffet's right over there to your left." Itchy said as he pointed to the side of the casino.

Without thinking, Randi charged towards the buffet and began to chomp down on as much food as he could. He had almost filled up his stomach when a dog dressed like a chef came up to him after putting some more food out on the table and said "My goodness, you must have a lot of money for an appetite like yours."

Randi froze, swallowing the food he had put in his mouth before he turned to the chef and said "Money? Did you say money?"

"Sure, I mean this IS a casino, everybody here's got money to spend, buy and trade here just like people." the dog chef said "You do have money, right?"

Randi gulped again as he looked around to see the dog's words were true, other than treats for dogs, they had money to toss around on bets, food, games, and more. The dogs who brought him here never told him about this! Uneasily, Randi tried to figure out what to do as he began to sweat and said "Uh... I... I might have forgotten my wallet. Bye!"

Before anyone knew it, Randi dashed right out of the buffet and raced across the casino to the door as fast as a racing dog. He caught a glimpse of the time and it read 10:44 pm, which means he was hours late and his owners were probably already home right now! Oh boy, was he in big trouble!

Randi burst out the door and was about to leave when he rammed head first into the one dog he never wanted to run into, Spike.

"Spike!" Randi gasped in shock and horror "Wh-What are you doing here?!"

"This is my new line of work." Spike said "Well, not officially, I still hadn't met the boss but his pal Killer said to wait for him on the sidelines here while he took care of some business elsewhere. Course the dog misplaced his glasses so he couldn't see me clearly, but he did give me this so that the boss will know it's me he's hiring."

Randi looked at his brother and realized he was wearing a black vest with red pockets and his collar was nowhere to be seen. "Where's your collar?"

"I threw it away," Spike said "Those dum dums wanted to get rid of me, but I beat them to it. I ain't going to no pound and now I can finally be with my own kind, where big bruisers like me rule the roost and take down any runt that tries to pick a fight with us."

"But Spike, this isn't right, you can't just abandon your family for-" Randi began but Spike knocked him down with a punch in the side and grabbed his collar, snapping it off the poor dog's neck and grasping it in his paws.

"They are not my family anymore!" Spike snapped angrily. "And now, neither are you. You are not my brother...you are my personal punching bag."

"But... But Alex will be worried if..." Randi began but when Spike advanced on him he cowered and raised his paws over his head, whimpering as Spike laughed at the dog's misery and put the ripped off collar in his vest pocket.

"Forget about him, he can get another dog, one boy doesn't matter...nobody does. What does matter is money, power and respect!" Spike said.

Randi knew he had to do something. He wanted to run away, but he had to get his collar back, Alex had personally made it just for him and it meant the whole world to him, he had to get it back! He decided that he had to stand up for himself, if Spike wanted to abandon his family, then fine but Randi was going home and taking his collar with him!

With the thought of his family by his side, Randi did something that surprised both him and Spike. He shoved his horrible brother off of him and grabbed the vest, pulling it off Spike's body as he tumbled through the mud. With no time to search the pockets, Randi put on the vest and made a run for it with Spike following him in anger as he yelled "GET BACK HERE YOU MUTT!"

Randi and Spike ran out of the bayou and into the street, just when a large car came out and...everything went black.

Randi felt like he had been hit by a heard of elephants when he woke up and felt like he was in heaven... except it looked more like a rundown old bedroom then heaven. Randi pinched himself to see if he was still dreaming but he knew he was awake because his head was still throbbing.

He also noticed a few other things like fresh food and water, some fresh flowers in the vases and a sack of cash on the side of the bed Randi had been laying in. What was going on?

Just then Randi saw the door open and in came a short dog wearing a fancy looking shirt and vest with a bow to match. He was puffing a cigar as it's fowl smoke wafted into the room and following him was a yellow dog with oversized glasses who spoke first, saying "Well, look who's finally awake, good thing too. We were starting to think we'd have to toss you overboard with the fishes."

"What... what are you... ow, my head..." Randi moaned as the pair approached him. Randi backed away in fright as he said "What's going on here? Did you dog-nap me? Is this a hostage situation?!"

"Boy, he must've hit his head harder than we thought." The yellow dog said "And looks a log mangier then I remember, of course I misplaced my glasses at the time so I couldn't see him clearly at the time but..."

"Excuse me to interrupt but I think I'll be the one to fill him in on this Killer," the other dog said as he took a step forward "Let me refresh your memory since you still seem to be dazed. You came here to work for me, Carface Carruthers, a big business dog who's heading his way to the top of the world."

"But I don't..." Randi tried to explain when the nasty smoke of the cigar entered his mouth, making him cough and wheeze as he exclaimed "Oh man, what a horrible-Ack!"

"Yeah, I know. Not pleasant." Killer said "But don't worry, Spike, you'll get used to it now that this place is your new home now."

Randi looked at the pair in shock. New Home? Spike? Randi looked down and realized he was still wearing his brother's vest and that was when he realized the awful truth: They thought he was his brother!

"And don't worry about your brother Spike." Carface said, patting Randi's back "Your brother was taken away to the dog pound. And with luck you'll never see him ever again. It had been a problem to sneak you out of that crash site but luckily you were spared from any serious damages, can't say the same about your brother though. Any who, let's forget the past and embrace the future. I can tell that you and I are going to go places, I can feel it."

Randi looked at Carface and then at his vest he was still wearing. He still wanted to go home but...but then again he felt like he had really been accepted as one of their own. Carface and Killer seemed like pretty cool dogs to hang out with and he was really enjoying himself in this casino. Back at home his brother had always picked on him, chased away his only chances of making friends and made him look like a loser. He even had problems with his family, as Alex's parents always left him at home, saying he was never allowed to go anywhere with them. Not at the store, not at the movies, not even on picnics. And Alex could be a pain sometimes, especially since he decided to change himself entirely for his new baby brother. Randi suddenly felt he didn't belong at home anymore.

But here... here he felt welcomed, he felt accepted, he felt free. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.

Randi looked at Carface and grinned "I'm looking forward to working here with you...Boss."

Carface smiled and patted Randi's back some more "That a boy Spike, now get some more rest and when you're done eating, you can join us for your first job assignment."

Once Carface and Killer left, Randi pulled out his collar and looked at it, thinking back on his brother's words and thought... maybe he was right. Maybe they don't want him around anymore. Well...so be it.

Without a second thought, he tossed his collar into a pile of junk and devoured his brunch, already looking forward to the new life that awaited him, as 'Spike' the casino dog.


	4. Chapter 4

A Noble Heart

Chapter 4

Things became a little better for Randi as he recovered from his accident from the car crash. Randi felt like he could rest easy now, knowing that his brother is now in the pound and that he could start a new life where he felt like he was appreciated. Not once did Randi think about his human family for he was more interested in reveling in his freedom.

Randi woke up feeling refreshed as he sat up in his new bed. Randi yawned before he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and jumped out of bed. Randi looked around the room he was now staying in on the Casino Boat.

The room was perfectly furnished with a wooden desk that was pressed up against the left wall of the room and a wooden chair right in front of it. Standing beside Randi's beside was a coat hanger that held Randi's vest. Randi took a minute to stretch out his arms before he grabbed his vest from the coat hanger and slipped it on him.

"Well Randi old boy, this is it," voiced Randi to himself as he buttoned up his vest. "This is going to be a new start for you, so don't mess it up."

Randi soon got on all fours as he made his way towards the door to his room before opening it. Randi stepped out into the hallway as he headed towards the main room of the casino. Randi was just about at his destination when he spotted Careface just up ahead of him. Careface was just walking down another hall before Randi called out to him.

"Hey, boss," greeted Randi as he put on a tough guy act.

Randi had decided to try and act a little bit like his brother, Spike, when around Careface and his gang so that they wouldn't get suspicious of him.

"Hey, Spike!" exclaimed Carface with a large smirk on his face. "Good to see that you're up on your feet."

"Yeah, I guess I just needed that extra bit of beauty rest," said Randi as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Good to know," said Careface with a nod. "You'll need that strength for what I want you to do."

"And what's that, Boss?" questioned Randi curiously with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't worry about it," said Careface with an easy going attitude. "All tell you all about it tonight. Right now, I have some business to attend to. I'll talk to ya's later."

With that said, Careface made his way down the hall that he was walking down. Randi watched with a curious expression upon his face before shrugging his shoulders and continued on his way to the casino. Randi was hoping to find some breakfast somewhere outside of the boat and to hopefully find some money to help him when it came to buying food at the casino.

' _I don't want to make the same mistake as last time,_ ' thought Randi when he reached the main lobby of the boat.

Randi opened the door of the casino and walked out onto the dock as he began to head towards the city. Randi didn't get too far though when he suddenly spotted a familiar dog walking down the docks in the opposite direction.

"Hey, Itchy!" shouted Randi as he trotted up to the small dog.

Itchy, looking up in surprise, saw Randi heading towards him. The dachshund smiled as he quickly ran up to Randi in excitement.

"Randi! Am I glad to see you!" shouted Itchy in relief. "I thought something bad happened to you after you ran out of the casino."

"Yeah…let's just say that I had no idea that I needed to pay for the food at the casino," said Randi with a shrug of his shoulders. "Plus the fact that I was chased by my brother, than got knocked out by a car and the boss of the joint, Careface, thinks I'm my brother, Spike, because Killer doesn't know about what he looks like since he forgot glasses at the time."

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute," said Itchy as he sat up and held his front paws up. "You're working with Careface?"

"Well…kind of," said Randi as he rubbed the back of his neck. "But it's kind of so that I don't get sent to the pound."

"What?!" exclaimed Itchy in shock.

"It's kind of a long story," said Randi as he began to walk across the dock. "I'll tell you all about it later, right now I'm looking for some breakfast, so…"

"Wait!" shouted Itchy as he ran to stand in front of Randi with a pleading look upon his face. "I need your help with something!"

Randi looked down at Itchy in confusion and was curious as to why someone like Itchy needed his help with.

"Why, what's wrong?" asked Randi in concern.

Itchy seemed to hesitate for a moment before he finally spoke.

"I need your help in rescuing Charlie," pleaded Itchy.


	5. Chapter 5

A Noble Heart

Chapter 5

Randi looked at his friend with a look of worry on his face. Who was Charlie? Someone near and dear to Itchy? Before Randi could answer him, some of Carface's other goons came and one of them, a beautiful female black and white dog, shoved Itchy away and said "Move it shrimp, the big dogs are going out to town and you might get stepped on."

The dog looped her arm around Randi and said "Come on honey, baby cakes, let's blow this place and head for steak at the club."

Randi could hear his tummy rumbling at the mention of a nice, juicy steak and he put on a tough guy look as he looked at Itchy and said "Yeah, Right behind you Jade. See you later mini mutt." but as they left Randi shot Itchy an apologetic look before walking off around a corner. He felt guilty about not being very helpful or useful to Itchy but he didn't want to risk losing everything Carface gave him on a silver plate either, he didn't want to go back to being the hungry, lonely and abused dog he was before...he just hoped Itchy would understand later.

Hours later

After hours of going out, Randi felt like he was so stuffed he could pass out right now as he returned to the boat casino with Jade, who was quick to dub herself his girlfriend the moment he was introduced to the others. Ever since then Jade has done her part to make Randi feel like he was the most important and respected dog in the entire world, but he also knew that this was because of them thinking he was Spike, there would be no way 'Randi' would ever get to live in the lap of luxury, get himself the hottest girl in the world and have a whole gang full of best friends, all who want him... Him as 'Spike' not him as 'Randi'.

"Boy, I'm so full." Randi said, sitting down and patting his food filled belly.

"Oh sugar pie," Jade said sweetly "I just love to see you so content with yourself. And that shows."

She tapped her paw against Randi's tummy, which had become very big and very rounded now that Randi would no longer have to worry about going hungry ever again with his cruel brother out of the picture...He might have overdone it a little but he didn't care.

"I'm a big eater." Randi said simply, patting his plump stomach "I've never eaten so much delicious food in my whole life before without-"

Before he could finish Jade pulled him in for a passionate kiss, one that made Randi feel like his world was spinning. His heart thumped twice as hard in his chest. Jade continued to kiss him as she wrapped her arms around him and Randi's eyes closed to soak in the wonderful feeling of the kiss.

Jade parted lips with him and said "Spike baby, I can see a wonderful future for us together. Play your cards right and we will be swarming in riches faster than the rats in the rat races... and maybe some snuggling time between you and me, if you know what I mean my cuddly buddy."

Randi gulped loudly as his knees turned into jelly. He had never known what it was like to have a girlfriend before but now he was practically doing backflips in his mind at how wonderful kissing this dame was and was already looking forward to more.

Randi kept staring at this girl and drooling at the sight of her beauty, forgetting about everything else when Killer pulled on his vest collar and said "Okay lover boy, you've got a job to do. Time to get to work."

Randi followed Killer away from Jade, who blew a kiss at him and winked. Randi felt his whole body melt away of the memory of the passionate kiss. He was so lost in his romantic visions of him and Jade he barely registered Killer's orders before the other dog shook his body and shouted "HEY! EARTH TO FIDO!"

"Huh, what?" Randi asked before he looked back at Killer and said "What did you say?"

"Feed the little monster." Killer said, pointing to a tray of food before opening a door the led to a secret room in the boat.

"Wait... monster? Did you say monster?!" Randi asked in shock.

"You're not afraid are you?" Killer asked "I thought you were a tough guy."

"I am I... I'll see you later." Randi said, putting on a tough guy look and a brave face before he took the tray and climbed down into the room.

Killer closed the door behind him and Randi gulped as he looked around uneasily at the room for any signs of a monster. Randi wasn't sure which made him sicker, the way the room looked like a prisoner's cage, or the fact that his tummy was now making uneasy noises, making him hold it in sheer pain.

"Are you okay?"

Randi yelped, almost dropping the tray before a pair of arms, human arms, grabbed it from the shadows and Randi backed away in fright, already fearing the worst as he raised his paws over his head and said "Don't eat me, I'll taste terrible! I'm furry and stringy!"

The voice, a young little girl voice, giggled as she spoke again "You're very funny."

Randi opened his eyes again and came face to face with a surprising sight in front of him. It was a little human girl. She was dressed in rags that used to be fine looking clothes with short black hair and big blue eyes that stared back at him with curiosity and compassion.

"Uh... I take it you're the... little monster that Killer wanted me to feed." Randi said

"And you sound like you have a stomach ache." The girl said, already rushing to his side and getting down on her knees to help him.

Randi was about to protest but the girl already placed her hands on his belly and began to rub it, making Randi sigh and pant a little before he fell down and said "Oh man, that's so..." Then he broke out laughing due to the girl tickling him, causing him to wriggle around in her grasp as he cried "No stop! That tickles!"

"I'm the tickle monster and I'm going to tickle you silly!" the girl said, deepening her voice to make her sound like a monster.

"Oh yeah? Take this!" Randi tackled the girl back and tickled her, causing her to scream at first but then she giggled when Randi tickled her back as he said "Now I'm the tickle monster! How do you like that?"

"No stop please!" The girl cried as she continued to laugh before Randi stopped and they both stopped to catch their breath. Randi looked at the girl and said "You... you're amazing."

"I am?" the girl asked

"You can... YOU CAN TALK TO ANIMALS!" Randi exclaimed, finally realizing he was talking to the girl and she was talking back to him, as suddenly as a newspaper hitting him straight across is face "How did you do that? A school for human to learn about animal language or something?!"

"No, I was born with it." The girl said "And I... I'm an orphan."

"Oh... sorry to hear that." Randi said "How did..."

"They died a long time ago," the girl said "I grew up in the orphanage and my Bernie took care of me."

"Bernie?" Randi asked.

"My pet Bernese Mountain dog." The girl said "He's been with me since he was a puppy and he's my dearest and truest friend. Of course I haven't seen him since..."

"Since when?" Randi asked

"Well, Mr. Carface heard about my gift to talk to animals." The girl said "So he invited me and Bernie over but... he told me that this is my new home now and Bernie... Bernie abandoned me!"

"No!" Randi exclaimed.

"Yes, because Bernie never came back for me and... and..." the girl began to cry and instantly Randi pulled the girl in for a hug as he patted her back and said "There there, don't cry. I'm sure that there must've been a misunderstanding and who knows, maybe Bernie will come back for you."

The girl sniffled and said "Really?"

Randi nodded. Then he felt the girl's head slip from his chest to his tummy, looking down to see the girl pressing her ear against it and said "Your feeling all better, I can tell."

"Thanks to you." Randi said.

"My name's Anne-Marie, what's your name?" the girl asked

Randi was about to answer when Killer barged in and shouted "Spike! Carface need you!"

Randi had no choice but to leave the girl and closed the door behind him, unaware that he was about to meet Carface's partner Charlie, the dog who Carface was not happy to see have busted out of the pound as well as take part in a very nasty plan.


	6. Chapter 6

A Noble Heart

Sorry for the long wait everyone, I've been busy with school work at the higher levels of ACAD, but here's the next chapter coming your way!

989

Chapter six

Randi made his way down the hallways with Killer to Carface's office with the thought of Annie-Marie and what she had told him about her pet and best friend Bernie the Bernese mountain dog.

' _Why would Bernie just abandon Annie-Marie like that?_ ' thought Randi with a frown of confusion upon his face. ' _It doesn't make any sense._ '

Randi decided to put that thought aside for now before he turned his eyes on Killer, who was leading him to Carface's office.

"So what does the boss want me for?" asked Randi curiously.

Killer turned to look over his shoulder to glance at Randi with a smirk upon his muzzle.

"The boss wants you to meet an old friend of his," replied Killer with a chuckle as they came to the door of the office.

"Oh…so, what's his name?" asked Randi curiously.

"Charlie Barkin," replied Killer.

Randi blinked in surprise when he heard the name of the dog that he was going to meet. Itchy must have succeeded in rescuing his friend from the dog pound.

' _I wish I could have helped Itchy in freeing his friend,_ ' thought Randi sadly to himself as guilt washed over him like a wave.

Randi was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the door to Carface's office being opened and quickly got his act together when Killer that he was here.

"I brought Spike like you told me to boss," spoke Killer with a chuckle.

Randi took a step forward as he walked into the office and saw Carface sitting beside a German shepherd. The German shepherd had light brown fur with a dark brown patch of fur that went from his ears down to his back and a dark brown muzzle and light brow/almost white fur underneath his throat and stomach. Randi took notice of the German shepherd's right ear as he saw that there were a few nicks on the edge.

' _He must have winded up in a fight with another dog a long time ago or something,_ ' thought Randi to himself before Careface called him in.

"Ah, Spike, come on it!" exclaimed Carface as Randi walked into the room. "I'd like to introduce you to an old buddy of mine. This is my partner for this casino, Charlie Barkin."

"Good to meet ya," said Randi as he held out his paw to the German shepherd. "The name's Spike."

"Likewise," said Charlie as he returned the paw shake as he gave Randi a smile. "Careface told me a little bit about you."

"Some of it good I hope," said Randi as he and Charlie unclasped each other's paws.

Before Charlie could reply, Carface cut in as he stepped between the two larger dogs.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah enough pleasantries," said Carface in an impatient voice before he turned to look at Randi. "Listen Spike, I'm setting up a farewell party for Charlie while giving him fifty percent of the casino's earnings."

Randi raised an eyebrow at Carface in confusion before he looked at Charlie again.

"What's he talking about?" asked Randi.

"Let's just say that I have a record when it came to escaping the pound," replied Charlie with a slight irk in his voice. "But as I explained to him, I was framed."

"Still, it's not a good idea for you to stay here," said Carface. "They'll find you Charlie, and that could ruin business here if those dog catchers find us dogs here."

"He does have a point," said Randi as he stepped into the conversation as Charlie looked at him in disbelief. "I mean, think about it. If you stay here and those dog catchers discover this place, then they'll capture every dog in the casino and take them to the dog pound. I've heard that the dog pound is not the best places to be in and that once you're captured by the dog catchers, you never come back out again."

"Except for me of course," said Charlie with a smirk as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Except for you," admitted Spike with a chuckle.

"Alright, enough with a chitchat," stepped in Carface. "Listen, the party will be held at the docks this evening so make sure you two will be there."

"You got it boss," said Randi with a smile.

"Fine," grumbled Charlie before he turned to look at Randi, "hope to see you there."

Randi nodded his head at Charlie as the German shepherd left the room, while closing the door behind him. Randi had to admit that Charlie seemed like an interesting dog to hang around with. Carface suddenly spoke as Randi looked down at the owner of the casino.

"Make sure you arrive on time for Charlie's…farewell party," ordered Carface firmly.

"Yes boss," replied Randi with a nod of his head. "I'll be there. I mean…how hard can it be to find the docks?"

A minute later

"Why couldn't I have kept my big mouth shut?" grumbled Randi as he wandered around the streets of New Orleans.

Randi had left the casino about ten minutes ago to meet up with Carface and his gang at the docks to give Charlie his farewell party. Randi began to realize that he was lost when he winded up walking down an unfamiliar street. Randi had once wandered around the streets of New Orleans when his human family had gone out to have some family time together without him or his brother Spike. Randi was somewhat familiar with the streets around his home, but out here in the deeper parts of New Orleans he was completely and utterly…lost.

"This is just great," grumbled Randi as he walked down the street with a sour look upon his face. "If I don't figure out where I am soon, I'll miss out on Charlie's farewell party."

Suddenly, Randi was taken by surprise when a flash of something gold ran past him when it burst out from an alleyway just to his right.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Randi as he jumped back a few feet.

The golden blur heard him as it stopped in its tracks and turned to look at him and what Randi saw was a dog. The dog had bright golden orange fur that some Golden retrievers would have, but dog's features were that of a German shepherd. The dog also had white fur under his chest and stomach and black tipping at the edges of his ears. The dog's eyes were a deep brown. The dog's right ear was floppy like a Golden retriever's ears, while his left ear was standing straight up. The only clothing that this dog was wearing is a deep green bandana.

Randi looked at the dog in surprise for this was the first time that he had ever seen a dog outside of Carface's casino walking or running around the streets. The dog was also looking at him as well before it spoke and when he did, Randi was surprised that the dog spoke in a female voice.

"Yo, what are you staring at?" questioned the dog with an annoyed look upon her face.

"S-sorry miss, I…" started Randi but the dog interrupted him.

"Look, just forget it," said the dog quickly. "If I were you I'd start running for your life."

"Why?" asked Randi with a raised eyebrow.

"Does the word 'Dog Catcher' mean anything to ya?" questioned the dog.

Randi was about to say something when he heard the sound of feet running towards him and the dog. Randi quickly turned to see a human with a large net coming towards them.

"Hold it right there you mangy mutts!" yelled the dog catcher.

Randi suddenly felt the dog pull on his vest with her teeth and got him running as they two entered another alleyway with the dog catcher following close behind them. Randi followed the new dog through the alleyway as she led him through twists and turns. Randi had a bit of trouble in trying to keep up with the other dog before she took a sharp turn, which Randi nearly missed. Randi was soon at the other dog's side as she was hiding behind a few trashcans. The dog quickly placed her front paws on one of the trashcans and turned to look at Randi, who was looking at her in confusion.

"Give me a paw here!" exclaimed the dog with a glare.

Randi quickly did as he pushed his front paws on the same trashcan that the other dog was pushing against.

"Okay, on three," instructed the dog before she and Randi got ready. "One, two, three…push!"

Together, the two dogs gave a hard shove and the trashcans toppled over as they all fell to the ground. Randi and the new dog didn't stick around to see if their plan worked for they quickly sprinted off again. Randi heard the dog catcher shouting and cursing as the human tripped over the trashcans that had been tipped over. Randi followed the female dog down the alley for a while before they came to a wooden fence before stopping. The female dog walked forward and pushed aside a loose wooden board that was barely hanging on a nail.

"This way," said the female as she squeezed through the hole of the fence.

Randi quickly followed behind her as he barely squeezed through the hole before he followed her to narrow alleyway. They ran down it for a while before the female quickly stopped in her tracks near the exit along with Randi, who stopped when the female held up her left foreleg. Slowly the female poked her head out to look around the corner of the exit and saw no dog catcher there. She then looked to her right and it was the same result.

"Okay, we're in the clear," said the female as she walked out of the alleyway with Randi following right behind her.

Randi let out a sigh of relief as he sat down on the ground to catch his breath. The she dog turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow as she too sat down on the ground.

"You aren't from around this part of town are ya," stated the she dog with a smirk on her face.

"What gave you…*pant*…that idea?" panted Randi as he looked up at the female in front of him.

"Two things, one: I've never seen you around these parts before. And two: you look as if you're a little lost."

"Y-yeah, I am," admitted Randi as he rubbed the back of his head in.

"I thought as much," said the new dog with a roll of her eyes. "So where exactly are ya heading?"

"Oh, uh, yeah…I'm looking for the docks," said Randi as he explained himself. "You see, I'm supposed to be at this farewell party that my boss is throwing for his partner."

"Your boss?" repeated the she dog with distaste in her voice. "I should have known, you're one of those casino dogs from Carface's gang, huh?"

"You know Carface?" asked Randi as he looked up at the she dog in surprise.

"It's a story that I don't want to talk about," said the she dog as she turned her head away from Randi. "Especially with not some dog, like you, who is part of that two-faced backstabbing jerk."

Randi looked at the she dog in confusion at what she had just said about Carface. The she dog took in a deep intake of breath before turning to glare at Randi again.

"Look, if you want to find your way to the docks, just head that way," said the she dog as she lifted her left paw up and pointed it towards a long street. "You'll find your boss and his gang at the docks…just like you want."

The she dog turned and began to walk away from Randi as she headed down another alleyway. Randi watched her walk away for a moment before he began to turn and walk in the direction that the she dog had pointed him in. Randi only got a few steps in before the she dog suddenly spoke again and he turned to face her.

"By the way," spoke the she dog as she turned to look at Randi with a grim look upon his face. "If that farewell party is what you're expecting it to be, then you're sadly mistaken."

Randi stared at the she dog in confusion as she walked into the alleyway, while disappearing into the shadows. Randi stood there for a while before shrugging off what the she dog said before he headed in the direction that she pointed him to. Randi walked for about a minute down the street until he got to the docks of where the farewell party was going to take place.

"Finally, I hope I'm not too late," voiced Randi as he began to head towards the meeting place where the party was taking place.

Randi didn't get too far when he heard a faint sound of singing on one of the docks. Randi glanced towards where he heard the singing and saw a familiar looking German shepherd. It was none other Charlie, who held a glass mug in his right paw and he was wearing a blindfold around his eyes. Randi looked at the scene before him in confusion and began to walk towards where Charlie was singing and by the sound of his singing Randi can only guess that Charlie was drunk.

' _What's he doing out here on his own?_ ' thought Randi as he walked towards the dock.

Randi didn't go another step further when he suddenly heard the sound of wheels rolling down the steep hill. Randi stopped in his tracks as he turned to look up the street and what he saw had Randi's eyes widen in fear. Rolling down the hill was a car with no driver in it and it heading straight towards Charlie. Randi watched in horror for a moment before he began to run towards the docks. It felt like he was going in slow motion as he ran and no matter how hard he ran, Randi just couldn't seem to go any faster. Everything seemed to speed up again and Randi was too late as he watched helplessly as the car ran over Charlie. Randi froze in his steps as he stared at what had just happened before he heard cheers and hysterical laughter up on the steep hill that the car had rolled down from. That was when he saw Carface and a lot of his gang members on top the head and they held a look of joy and success upon their features. Randi stared up at them in disbelief and confusion and only one thought ran through Randi's head.

' _Why, why would Carface do this to Charlie?_ '

To be continued


	7. Chapter 7

A Noble Heart

Hey everyone, this is the next chapter of 'All Dogs Go to Heaven'. I hope you enjoy it.

989

Chapter seven

Randi was beside himself, more than he ever had before. He had just witnessed the murder of another dog, committed by none other than his boss and his crew. Randi was so shaken up and disturbed by what he witnessed he barely noticed his boss telling everyone what a good job they did and they returned to the casino.

Randi waited until he was back inside his room, where he locked himself inside and started to hyperventilate. When he heard that the casino business with shady people often leads to stuff like this, he thought that it was just a figure of speech; not actually killing! Randi was regretting everything he had ever done as he rolled around on his bed, guilt, shock and fear coursing through his body. What if the gang realized he wasn't really Spike? Would the same thing that happened to Charlie happen to him?! Randi yanked his fur and tried calm down but as the hours went by the more his negative emotions took over.

Finally, Randi couldn't take it anymore. He didn't want to be Spike anymore, he want to be Randi again. He would officially drop the 'bad dog' act, march up to Carface and beg for mercy as much as he possibly could. He could even handle being in the pound for what he did to justify his actions right now.

Just then he heard someone coming and Randi knew what he had to do. He dove through the junk to find his collar, finding it just in time as he put it on and got into his begging position as the door opened and Randi cried "Boss, I confess, I'm not who you think I am!"

"I sure do."

Randi's eyes popped open in surprise. It was Charlie! Alive and well and wearing a golden watch around his neck. The look on Charlie's face would be enough to kill someone out of sheer anger if it could while Randi was too overcome with joy to realize how peeved Charlie was. "Oh thank the dog gods! I'm saved! I'm saved! I don't have to go to the pound after all! You managed to survive!"

"No thanks to you." Charlie replied

"I'm sorry, I am so very sorry!" Randi pleaded "I tried to get to you sooner but I got lost and there was this lady dog and the dog catcher and the pier and the car... I had nothing to do with this, I swear!"

"You know what I think you deserve?" Charlie asked "Let's see, the pound would be too soft a punishment for everything I've been thought. So how about...this!"

At 'this', Charlie punched Randi right in the face, knocking him out cold.

When Randi woke up he heard voices and quickly realized something wasn't right. He tried to move his legs but they were bound together and tried to speak but his snout was tied shut. Charlie had bound and gagged him while he was out like a light and stuffed him inside a sack! Randi knew he was in deep trouble, luckily he had his collar on so he could prove he didn't belong with the junkyard or casino dogs... But now he had another problem.

After recovering from the news that his pal was alright, Itchy told Charlie all about the little monster Carface kept and Charlie got an idea about what to do to get even with his boss "We'll be heading back to the casino, as soon as I take care of Carface's pet."

As Randi wriggled inside the sack, Charlie grabbed the sack and dragged it over to a barrel of water as he said "Since your boss tried to kill me, it's only fitting that I take out my anger on one of his own men, namely his favorite. And your it." he dropped the sack inside the barrel and said "Let's see if you can get out of this mess Spike."

The moment he heard that name, Itchy suddenly tensed and as Charlie was about to force the sack to stay underwater with his paws, the dachshund cried "No Charlie stop!"

Before Charlie knew it, Itchy had rammed himself into the barrel, knocking it over. Both dogs lost their balance and fell over while the barrel tilted over and broke, saving Randi from drowning. Itchy ran over to the sack and opened it as Charlie got back on his feet and snapped "Hey, what gives Itchy? What's wrong with you?"

"There's been a big mistake Charlie." Itchy said as he pulled Randi out of the sack "You see this guy, he's not really Spike, he's actually a domestic house dog named Randi! He was just pretending to be his brother in Carface's gang because the dogs mixed them up."

"Wait a minute... you mean to tell me... this guy is really an imposter while the real golden child is doing time in the pound?" Charlie asked in shock and surprise.

"You... you tried to murder me!" Randi snapped in shock and fear once Itchy removed his binds and gag from his mouth "I told you I had nothing to do with Carface's plan, all knew was that it was a going away party, and I thought it was an actual party! I practically saw my life in front of my eyes! I'm practically traumatized! I'm going to have nightmares like this for the rest of my life! I-"

He was interrupted when he heard Charlie laughing his head off as he watched in anger and said "It's not funny! I was serious about seeing my life flash before my eyes. I want to go back home and be with my human family again!"

"That's not what's so funny." Charlie said once he calmed down enough to talk "What's funny, is that the moment Carface finds out you've been lying to him the entire time you were employed, you'll be six feet under before you can even call for help!"

"You... you mean if I tell him I'm not Spike... He'll kill me?!" Randi asked in shock, shaking from horror.

Charlie could tell Randi was about ready to lose his head in a sheer panic again so he slung his arm over the dog and said "Okay, okay. Let's start over. First, I'm sorry about the whole getting even misunderstanding thing. Second, if you want to live to see another day, then you gotta keep your act going for as long as you can."

"But... but I don't know if I can." Randi asked "Not after everything I've seen and been though."

"Just buck up and you'll be fine." Charlie said "Or... even better, you can come to work for me instead. We'll fake your death, you drop the 'Spike' act and you can work together with me to take him down a peg."

"What about Anne-Marie?" Randi asked, suddenly remembering the girl he met not too long ago.

"Who's that?" Charlie asked.

"She's this human girl who can talk to animals," Randi explained. As he told them about the girl, the part about her being able to talk to animals still rang around in Charlie's head as dollar signs appeared over his head. Putting on a big smile he turned his attention to Randi and said "Say pal, how would you like to be her knight in shining armor?"

"What?" Randi asked

"It's simple, we go and rescue her from her prison and work our way up there." Charlie said "You do care about her don't you? You don't want that poor little child to suffer under the clutches of that tyrant Carface do you?"

Randi thought about it and he said "Yes, I want to help her."

"Then stick with me Remy, and we'll bust her out of there in no time." Charlie said.

"My name is Randi, not Remy." Randi said.

"Whatever." Charlie said "Now let's go, we're wasting time standing around here."


	8. Chapter 8

A Noble Heart

Here's the next chapter of my 'All Dogs go to Heaven'. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

*8*

Chapter 8

In the cover of night, Randi, Charlie and Itchy made their way to the boat casino. Quietly they snuck into one of the larger vents of the boat and began to crawl through it. Randi felt his stomach clench in apprehension as they made their way through the vents. He began to worry about Carface discovering them inside the vents.

' _Stop thinking about that!_ ' shouted Randi's thoughts. ' _If you do then they'll wind up clouding your mind afterwards!_ '

With those thoughts in his mind, Randi steeled himself as he continued to follow behind Charlie. Charlie knew his way around the boat easily enough so he knew where Anne-Marie is being held. Itchy was ahead of them as he sat around the corner with his body shaking in fear. Charlie and Randi came around the corner as they came to two shafts with the flaps folded down.

"Alright, let me see here," whispered Charlie as he looked at the two shafts and tried to decide which one to try looking through first.

Randi stood behind Charlie as he made sure to give the dog some room before he noticed Itchy starting to scratch himself. Charlie also noticed this as an annoyed look came over his face before he pinned Itchy to one of the shafts and scolded him.

"Stop it!" hissed Charlie angrily. "Will you quit that? I've had it with your itching."

Randi watched as Charlie looked through the right vent shaft, but Randi quickly turned his attention back on Itchy who was shaking in fear again as he was looking through the left vent shaft.

"Itchy, what's wrong?" asked Randi curiously.

"T-t-there's a-a…a monster," whimpered Itchy as he pressed himself up against the metal walls of the shaft.

Randi carefully made his way over to the shaft Itchy had looked through, along with Charlie, and saw a familiar lump of clothing sitting on the stool in a familiar room.

"Easy, Itchy," said Randi as he gave Itchy a reassuring smile. "That's not a monster."

"It's not?" asked Itchy as he looked through the shaft again with Randi and Charlie.

"Nope," replied Randi as Anne-Marie took off her long hat and chewed on a piece of bread as she sat in front of a rat's cage that was on top of a brawl. "That's the little girl I've told you guys about."

The three dogs stared down at the child for a while before they heard the hatch that led into Anne-Marie's room open and saw Carface and Killer walking in. The three of them quickly stepped back from the shaft so that Carface wouldn't spot them. Randi could feel his heart pounding fast within his chest as fear began to take hold of him again, but he quietly calmed himself as he listened in on the conversation between Carface and Anne-Marie.

"Mr. Carface, can I go outside today?" asked Anne-Marie.

"Sure you can little girl," replied Carface in a voice that made Randi's fur stand on end. "But first you…talk to the rat."

Randi felt his muscles tense as his fur began to bristle on the back of his neck. Randi also felt a growl starting to grow in the back of his throat, but Charlie quickly shushed him by placing a paw on Randi's muzzle, while giving him a scowl in the process. Randi gave Charlie a sheepish look as the German shepherd let go of his muzzle, but Randi took a second to notice that when Charlie had touched his muzzle the German shepherd's paw had felt cold.

' _Maybe his paw's are just cold because of the metal of the vent,_ ' thought Randi as he shrugged it off as nothing to worry about.

Randi turned his attention back on the conversation between Anne-Marie and Carface. He heard Anne-Marie talking to the rat that was in the rat cage as she discuss about the rats that were injured or sick. Randi listened for a while before Carface's voice spoke up again with impatience hanging on the edge of it. Randi heard Anne-Marie apologise to Carface before she asked the rat about which of the other rats will win the next race. Randi slowly crept up closer to the shaft with Charlie and Itchy as they took a chance to look down at the scene before them. Anne-Marie soon gave Carface his answer and Randi watched as his so called 'boss' left the room, but gave Killer an order to make sure to feed Anne-Marie before Killer followed after Carface.

Randi frowned in displeasure when he saw that Carface hadn't kept his promise to let Anne-Marie go outside. Randi felt his fur once again stand up on the back of his neck as anger began to boil up inside his body.

' _That no good, louse canine!_ ' thought Randi furiously.

Randi watched as Anne-Marie sat herself down on the floor against the wall of her room and began to cry. Randi felt his heart breaking at the sight before him when he heard the metal latch on the vent being unlocked. He turned his head to see Charlie unlocking the latch of the vent before he opened it. Itchy protested slightly as Charlie pushed open the shaft.

"Poor child," said Charlie as he looked down at Anne-Marie in pity before smirking. "We'll kidnap her."

"Kidnap?!" echoed Randi and Itchy in shock and confusion.

"Uh, I mean, rescue her," corrected Charlie.

Randi frowned suspiciously at what Charlie had said a moment ago before he jumped out of the vent first to land on the crate that stood underneath it. Randi looked down at Anne-Marie for a moment in hesitation before plucking up his courage.

"Psst…Anne-Marie," called Randi in a soft voice.

At the mention of her name, Anne-Marie looked up to see Randi on top of the mountain of crates.

"Mr. Spike, you're back!" exclaimed Anne-Marie excitedly.

Randi gently shushed her before he made his way down the crates and quietly landed on the floor in front of Anne-Marie. Randi smiled when Anne-Marie hugged him and he returned the embrace with his tail wagging to show his happiness.

"It's good to see you too, kiddo," said Randi as he pulled away to look at Anne-Marie. "I came to get you out of here."

"Really?" asked Anne-Marie with a hopeful look upon her face.

"Yep," replied Randi before he turned to see Charlie and Itchy climbing down the crates. "I also brought some friends with me to help. Their names are…"

"Charlie B. Barkin, at your service," interrupted Charlie as he sat himself down on the ground before he gestured to Itchy, who stood behind him. "And this is my associate, Itchiford "Itchy" Dachshund."

"How'd you do," said Itchy from behind Charlie.

Anne-Marie shyly nodded her head at them before Charlie started to walk around the room and Randi noticed a sly look imprinted on the German shepherd's face.

"Now, Randi here told us that you were an orphan, right?" asked Charlie as he made his way to Anne-Marie's bed.

"Yes," replied Anne-Marie as she looked at Randi questioningly, who smiled sheepishly at her.

"Yeah, that's my real name," replied Randi as he scratched the back of his head shyly.

"But I thought your name was Spike," said Anne-Marie in a befuddled voice.

"No, Spike is the name of my brother," explained Randi gently. "I…it's a long story."

"Which should be saved for a later time," said Charlie impatiently from Anne-Marie's bed as he held a black suitcase, while packing all of the young girl's belongings inside it. "Right now, I think its best that we all get out of here before Carface comes back. Also, kid, you'll be staying with Itchy."

"Me?" echoed Itchy in confusion.

"Are you sure…" started Randi before Itchy interrupted.

"Oh no, boss, she can't stay with me," argued Itchy as Charlie tied the suitcase onto his back. "This has gone too far, I'm getting out of here."

"Alright, you have no compassion," said Charlie as he threw Itchy, who was now attached to the suitcase, off the bed.

Randi winched when Itchy hit the floor and quickly trotted over to the little dog to see if he was okay.

"You alright?" asked Randi as he helped Itchy up onto his paws.

Itchy let out a grumbling reply saying that he was alright before Randi looked over at Charlie, who slipped underneath Anne-Marie and began to carry her on his back.

"She'll stay with me," said Charlie as he began to carry the young girl up towards the vent.

Randi frowned suspiciously as Charlie began to tell Anne-Marie about his home, which was a car, before Randi turned to help Itchy up the crates. Charlie let Anne-Marie crawl through the vent first before he followed after her, while Itchy made the difficult climb up the crates before he got caught on the vent latch. Randi quickly helped Itchy before letting him go through the vent first. Randi came last as he quietly closed the vent door behind him, while placing the lock back in its original place. They soon made their way out of the vent shaft and began to quickly make their way across the docks to get as far away from Carface's casino as possible.

The three dogs and Anne-Marie soon came to the city streets of New Orleans as they headed towards Charlie's home. Randi was walking behind the group as he would occasionally help Itchy with carrying the suitcase, but he would glance towards Charlie with a look of distrust in his eyes. Charlie was three feet ahead of Randi as he sweet talked with Anne-Marie about things that Randi couldn't quite catch, but that gave the half-breed the chance to talk to Itchy in privet.

"Hey, Itchy," spoked Randi in a quiet voice so that Charlie wouldn't hear him. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure," said Itchy as he panted under the weight of the suitcase.

Randi was hesitant at first as he cast a glance towards Charlie, but soon asked the question that continued to knock around inside his head.

"Your boss, Charlie…is he known for keeping promises?" asked Randi with a serious look upon his face.

Itchy faltered in his steps for a second before glancing towards where Charlie was walking ahead of them before glancing back at Randi.

"Well…sometimes," replied Itchy hesitantly.

Randi's face grew to worry at what Itchy had said and glanced back at Charlie uneasily. After what the German shepherd had almost done to him, Randi wasn't so sure that he could really trust Charlie enough to be his friend or for the German shepherd to keep his promise in helping him. Randi soon stopped in his tracks when he noticed his reflection in a store window and took a long look at himself. He was still wearing the vest of his brother along with his original collar that hung on his neck with his name 'Randi' imprinted on its surface.

' _When did my life get so confusing?_ ' thought Randi sadly. ' _I wish I never went to that stupid casino._ '

Randi let out a sigh before he turned to look at the retreating forms of Charlie, Anne-Marie and Itchy. Randi decided that he needed time alone right then and there because he needed to get his thoughts sorted out.

"Charlie!" called Randi as he trotted up to the German shepherd, who stopped to look back at Randi curiously.

"What is it?" asked Charlie in an annoyed voice.

Randi hesitated for a second before he plucked up his courage to tell Charlie what he was doing.

"I'm going to wander around the city for a bit," said Randi before adding a little lie. "I'm going to see if I can't find anything to eat."

"Yeah, yeah, sure," said Charlie with a dismissal voice. "Just make sure you meet up with us back at my place."

"Um…sure," said Randi with a nod.

Charlie seemed satisfied with Randi's answer before he gave the half breed directions to his place and once he did, the German shepherd began to walk again. Anne-Marie had an uncertain look upon her face, but Randi gave the little girl a reassuring smile.

"I won't be gone long, Anne-Marie," said Randi.

Anne-Marie smiled back at Randi and gave him a quick hug before following after Charlie. Itchy was a little hesitant as he looked up at Randi with concern. Randi gave Itchy a sad smile before glancing towards Anne-Marie's retreating form then back down at Itchy.

"Keep an eye on Anne-Marie for me until I get back, okay?" asked Randi.

Itchy glanced at Anne-Marie for a second before looking back at Randi as he gave the mutt a nod.

"You just be careful out there," cautioned Itchy.

"You got it," said Randi with a smile.

Randi watched as Itchy trotted after Charlie and Anne-Marie for a moment before he turned down a nearby alleyway and began to walk down it with a solemn look upon his face. Many thoughts were going through his head as he tried to sort them out. After a minute of walking, Randi was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of trashcans being knocked over. Randi jumped back with a start as he turned to look at the trashcans in surprise and fear. Randi stood still for a while before he became curious as to what had caused the crash and slowly made his way towards the toppled trashcans. He made sure to keep low to the ground as he approached and what he saw made him blink in surprise. Digging through the trashcans was the she-dog that he had met a few hours back during the night. Randi watched the she-dog for a moment before the she-dog seemed to notice his presence and glanced over her shoulder to look at him for a sec. She then went back to scrounging around through the trash again.

Randi slowly walked towards the trashcans as he became interested to see if he could find anything that would be edible in there, but he was also hoping to see if he could talk to the she-dog again. Randi pretended to ignore her as he began to check out the inside of the trashcans, not noticing the she-dog glancing at him out of the corner of her eyes as an amused smile appeared on her muzzle. The she-dog went back to sniffing the trash, while Randi looked around inside the trashcans for a moment before deciding to begin a conversation with the she-dog.

"Um…hey," greeted Randi shyly as he sat down on the ground. "I don't suppose you remember me from before, do you?"

The she-dog chuckled as she lifted her head to look at Randi with a smirk upon her features.

"Who could forget a dog wearing a tacky vest that was given to him by Carface himself," said the she-dog in sarcasm as she raised eyebrow as Randi.

"Um…yeah," said Randi as he scratched the back of his head nervously. "The truth is…this was my brother's vest. I'm wearing it because I wanted in with Carface's gang so that I could live a better life than I had back home with my humans."

"But you found out that being part of Carface's gang wasn't all it was cracked up to be, huh," stated the she-dog as she eyed Randi with calculating eyes.

Randi looked down and only nodded his head to confirm that what the she-dog said was true before clearing his throat.

"Um…anyways, my name's Randi. What's your name?"

"Hmm…that depends," said the she-dog as she slowly started walking away from Randi. "Are you still in Carface's gang?"

"No way," said Randi firmly as he stood up on all four of his paws again. "I've seen what Carface is like and I don't want anything to do with him anymore. It was a miracle that Charlie survived that car murder incident, but I'm still questioning on what I should do now."

The she-dog stopped in her tracks as she turned to look at Randi with a look of sympathy on her face.

"You have any ideas?" asked the she-dog as she sat down a few feet away from Randi.

Randi frowned as he thought about the she-dog's question before giving her an honest answer.

"Well…Charlie gave me an offer in working for him," said Randi. "But after he almost attempted to drown me…I'm not so sure. All I know is that I don't really trust him very much."

"Yeah, Charlie's a little unpredictable and hotheaded," said the She-dog with a frown of displeasure. "I've met him once and we didn't get along very well. He's a womanizer if you know what I'm saying."

Randi smiled a little at the she-dog as he did understand where she was coming from. He remembered how his brother would sometimes flirt with other female dogs who weren't really interested in him.

"Well, if you aren't really sure where you need to go you can come with me to meet my uncle," offered the she-dog as she stood up. "Maybe he'll offer you a job."

"Are you sure?" asked Randi hesitantly.

"Yeah," replied the she-dog with a smile. "His place isn't too far from here, come on."

Randi walked forward as he began to walk beside the she-dog as she led him to their destination.

"Also, before I forget, my name is Lola," said the she-dog with a smirk.

"Nice to meet you," said Randi as he gave the she-dog a smile back.

They spend the time walking in comfortable silence, while making sure that they avoided being noticed by humans along the way. It wasn't long before they came to an abandoned alleyway and Randi began to hear jazz music being played. They walked a little farther into the alley until they came to an archway tunnel. The two dogs walked through the archway tunnel and when they came to the other end Randi stared in surprise at what he saw, while Lola smirked at his reaction. What Randi saw in front of him was a bunch of dogs sitting at tables or at bar tables as they watched another group of dogs playing jazz music on a large wooden stage. There were colorful lanterns hung on wires that were lit by fireflies. The only electricity that was being produced is the spotlights that were shining on the stage where the jazz band was being played.

"Wow," voiced Randi as he looked around the place in amazement.

"Welcome to my uncle's place of business, The Canine Café," said Lola in a proud voice.

"Hey, Lola!" shouted a voice from the bar table.

The two dogs turned to see a Great Dane standing behind the bar table. The Great Dane's fur was white with black spots splotched all over his body and his eyes were a dark blue that had a cheerful gleam in them. Around the Great Dane's neck was a blue beaded collar that sparkled under the lights of the lanterns.

"Welcome back girl!" greeted the Great Dane.

"Hey Uncle Reggie," greeted Lola as she and Randi walked over to the Great Dane, "How ya doing?"

"Oh, I'm doing good." replied the Great Dane, now known as Reggie, with a shrug. "The café had a few customers coming through tonight, though not as many as last night."

That was when Reggie noticed Randi and became curious as he leaned against the counter top of bar table to get a better look at the new dog.

"Who's this you picked up, chérie?" asked Reggie as he looked Randi up and down.

"This is the dog I told you about who helped me get away from the dog catcher a few hours back." Lola answered with an easy going smile. "His names Randi, and he's hoping to find a job here."

"Is that so," said Reggie as he raised an eyebrow at Randi.

"Um…y-yes sir," spoke Randi in a nervous voice. "That is, if you're willing to hire me."

Reggie put on a thoughtful look after he heard what Lola had said before he gave Randi a smile.

"Well…I could use an extra paw around this place," said Reggie as he stood up to his full height again. "I don't have many helpers around here and my niece would sometimes be too busy with other things to help out."

Lola responded with a sheepish smile and a shrug of her shoulders as she gave her uncle an innocent look. Reggie only raised an amused eyebrow at his niece before looking back at Randi.

"My café opens near the evening hours so come around for a tryout tomorrow night and we'll see if you got what it takes to be a helper around here," said Reggie with a wink.

"Will do sir," said Randi with a smile.

"Oh, and one more thing before I forget," added Reggie as he pointed at Randi's vest. "Make sure you get rid of that vest you're wearing, it clashes with the atmosphere of my café."

Randi eagerly nodded his head at Reggie before the Great Dane turned and went back to what he was doing. Lola looked over at Randi with a smirk upon her features.

"Well, you heard the big dog, take that vest off and chuck it in the trashcan that's just over there." Lola said as she pointed to a nearby trashcan that was behind her.

Randi did just that as he tore off his brother's vest and threw it into the trashcan, hoping to start over again. But this time, not as his brother Spike, this time he was going to be himself and see how far he will go on the streets.

To be continued


	9. Chapter 9

A Noble Heart

Here's the next chapter of my 'All Dogs go to Heaven'. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

*8*

Chapter 9

After ridding himself of that jacket, Randi felt like a free dog as he pranced around without a care left in the world... once he was out of sight of Lola and her uncle since he didn't want to embarrass himself. He then remembered Charlie's home address and decided to make his way over to the junkyard where he arrived at the car Charlie had described. He was still in a good mood before he saw Anne-Marie and Charlie coming towards him and he said "Hey guys! What's up?"

"Teaching a human to potty train...not pretty. Don't ask." Charlie groaned "I just want sleep."

"Would you like to sleep with us Randi? Can he sleep with us Charlie?" Anne-Marie asked.

"Okay, is there anything else you want before you drive me crazy with your questions all night long?" Charlie hissed in annoyance. "Cause I get cranky without my beauty sleep real easily."

"I think it'll be nice, plus I'll take care of her in case she can't sleep instead of her bugging you all night long." Randi said with a grin.

Charlie sighed and nodded before they all climbed into the car and fell asleep. Randi and Anne-Marie followed after him as they got themselves settled in the back seat on a large pillow. Randi curled up with Anne-Marie to keep her warm during the night as the two of them soon fell asleep. The next morning Charlie was still sawing logs while Anne-Marie woke up with a yawn before she nudged Randi, whom she had been cuddling with all night long and woke him up as he asked "Morning cupcake, sleep well?"

Anne-Marie nodded before her stomach began to rumble, loudly. She was very hungry as far as Randi could tell and Randi knew that Charlie might not like waking up so early so he helped her climb out first and he followed her before they came a far enough distance away to keep Charlie from hearing them.

"You hungry, kiddo?" asked Randi.

The girl nodded and they heard an even louder rumbling sound; this time from Randi's furry tummy as he chuckled and said "Me too. I'm so hungry I could eat anything."

"Would you eat me?" Anne-Marie asked

"Well, you are sweet enough." Randi said before he laughed at his own little joke... but the look on the girl's face expressed worry and Randi stopped quickly as he said "I was just kidding, I wouldn't eat you even if I tried."

Anne-Marie smiled before she pounced on the dog and gave him a kiss on his snout before she began tickling his middle, making the half breed laugh as he squirmed in her grasp. Randi tried to get her off himself but she was practically impossible to shake off as she kept tickling him and he was about to choke due to lack of air when suddenly she stopped and said "Randi..."

Randi said up, ready to protect his friend the moment he heard her frightened voice and was surprised to discover that it was Lola, who was walking up to him as Anne-Marie wrapped her arms around Randi fearfully.

"Easy sweetie, this is Lola, one of my friends." Randi said "She won't hurt you. Lola, this is Anne-Marie and yes she is a human who can talk to us, she was born that way."

"Oh wow... Is this one of your humans?" Lola asked as she looked at Anne-Marie with curiosity.

"Oh no, I mean my human family does have kids but one of them is practically already an adult and the other is not even born yet... but it's not like it matters anyway." Randi said with a frown.

"Did they abandon you?" Anne-Marie asked

"Well... it's like they forgot all about me... Spike always made sure of that." Randi said "He always hated me and he would often beat me... a lot every chance he got. He got more food than me, more attention than me... of course with the new baby on the way it's like everyone else has already replaced me with the baby."

"Well... there has to be some good times you had with your family... surely they must've cared about you enough to give you a roof over your head, meals and a place to sleep, right?"

Randi thought about it, trying to remember as hard as he could but his thoughts were interrupted when he heard Charlie bounding over, with Itchy following him, saying "Hey Buddy! If you wanted to take Squeaker out for a walk you should have asked me first!"

Randi felt embarrassed that he forgot about Charlie as the dog locked eyes with Lola for a bit before Lola left, huffing as she walked away and Charlie sighed "What was Miss 'I always read the good book and think casinos' are trash' doing here? Trying to steal our kid?"

"She just came to say hi. And she was the one who helped me when a dog catcher tried to catch me. She even offered me a job at her uncle's place and... and..." his mind wandered off as he watched Lola walk off and ended up lost in thought before Charlie shook him and said "Earth to Romeo! Focus!"

"Wha..." Randi asked before he shook his head and said "Oh, right! Uh... where are we going again?" Randi asked

"Horse races, I'll explain along the way." Charlie said before he grabbed Randi's collar and dragged him along while Anne-Marie and Itchy followed after them.

Soon they found themselves at a horse racetrack where the horses were resting and getting ready for the race that was today and after Randi had managed to find them food to eat Charlie had talked to Anne-Marie to get her to talk to the horses. Although she didn't want to because it reminded her of what Carface did to her, but Charlie told her that they would donate the money for charity just like in Robin Hood and she agreed to do it.

After talking to one of the horses, she revealed that a scruffy looking white horse named The Grand Chawhee would win because it was his birthday. The next thing Randi knew he found himself under a long trench coat with Charlie while Itchy was in the middle and Annie-Marie was on top, sporting a fake mustache and hat to make her look more like an adult.

"Ugh, why did I agree to this?" Randi asked "It's stuffy in here!"

"Just keep your tail in or someone will see it." Charlie grumbled "Besides, you're the one that said nobody would give a gambling ticket to a kid and her dogs!"

"Still I don't like this, Ouch! Itchy, your claws are digging into my skin!"

"I can't see a thing in here, why couldn't I be at the top?" Itchy asked

"Cause people would recognize a dog's face anywhere." Charlie said "Anymore dumb questions?"

With no more questions left to ask, they bought their ticket and watched from a secluded stand with nobody else sitting on it and removed their costume to watch as the horse Anne-Marie said would win was pushed across the finish line by two other horses and won. The dogs cheered and went wild as Anne-Marie cheered "Happy Birthday Grand Chawhee! Happy Birthday!"

Randi smiled as he looked at how happy Anne-Marie looked as she hugged the dogs and kissed them... and he noticed how Charlie was disgusted by the kiss and he playfully said "What's the matter? You didn't like one kiss? I could get Anne Marie to kiss you more."

"I hate you right now." Charlie grumbled.

That night Randi went to the café and quickly went to work on the try outs and sure enough he got the job. Randi was thrilled and he was surprised when Charlie arrived as he looked around and said "So this is the place you always run off to whenever you're not doing business with me?"

"Well, technically I never accepted your proposal to work with you. I found work of a different kind."

"Which is just great, in more ways than one." Charlie said "You can deliver us food and work up the ladder here until you become the new owner. Then we can talk serious money together."

"Uh... I don't know about that... how's Anne-Marie?" Randi asked.

"Doing good... but listen, I've been thinking about what I did to you and... I just want to say I'm sorry." Charlie said with a frown "I was just so mad I couldn't control myself and... well, what I'm trying to say is we got off on the wrong foot so let's start over. Okay? At least for the kid's sake."

Randi looked at Charlie and wondered if he really did mean it or if he was just trying to butter him up. He didn't have time to ask when Lola saw Charlie and charged at him, yelling "Out! Out you cad! I told you never to come here again after the con you tried to pull here!"

"I was just doing so!" Charlie yelped before he ran off, leaving Randi very confused before he simply shrugged and went to work in the café as best as he could.

To be continued


	10. Chapter 10

A Noble Heart

Here's the next chapter of my 'All Dogs go to Heaven'. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

*8*

Chapter 10

Lola let out a huff after she had chased Charlie out of her uncle's café before turning around, and walking back over to where Randi was cleaning one of the tables. Lola took a seat at the table and let out a sigh as she leaned against the table with her head lying on top of her front paws. Randi looked over at Lola in concern for a moment before sitting down at the table with her.

"You okay?" asked Randi in concern.

"Yeah," replied Lola in a grouchy voice as she stared down at the table top. "That con artist has some nerve in coming around to my uncle's café again. I thought he'd learned his lesson after what I did to him last time."

"What did you do to him last time?" asked Randi with a raised eyebrow.

Lola let out a huffed chuckle as she looked up at Randi with a smirk imprinted upon her face.

"Trust me, you don't want to," said Lola.

Randi gave her a confused look before he shrugged his shoulders and decided to change the subject to the next question that came knocking into his head.

"Lola…is Reggie really your uncle?" questioned the half breed as Lola look up at him with a raised eyebrow. "I mean…you two don't look…well…"

Lola let out another chuckle as she sat up to look at Randi better as a soft smile replaced her usual smirk.

"Uncle Reggie isn't really my uncle," answered Lola. "He's actually my godfather who was a friend of my mother."

Randi became interested when Lola mentioned her mother: "Where is your mom, shouldn't she be around here helping Reggie with the café?"

Lola's smile turned into a frown as a sad expression came over her features. She turned her eyes downwards to look at the surface of the table that they were sitting at. Lola was quiet for a moment before she took in a deep breath and answered Randi's question.

"My mother…died in an accident," explained Lola without looking up at Randi. "My uncle told me that my mother had been late for work and he went out to look for her. He searched for my mother for an hour, until he finally found her lying dead on the street. He said that my mother must have gotten distracted by something, and didn't watch where she was going when a car suddenly hit her."

Randi's ears drooped down in sadness after Lola told him about what happened to her mother.

"Sorry," voiced Randi as he turned his gaze away from Lola.

Lola only shook her head in her way of saying it was alright. The two lapsed into a moment of silence before Randi asked another question.

"What about…your dad?" asked Randi curiously.

Lola let out a huff as her eyes glared down at the surface of the wooden table. She didn't reply to Randi's question for a while, but when she did it was in a voice that was full of sadness and, if Randi didn't know any better, anger.

"My dad wasn't around when I was born," said Lola in a low growl. "My mother said that he had been busy somewhere else and that he had to leave us. When I was a young pup, I had always believed that he would come back to me and my mother someday, but I gave up that hope after my mother's accident."

Randi bit his lower lip in shame and began to scratch the back of his neck in awkwardness at the situation that he now found himself in. Lola save him the trouble of saying anything by turning her gaze up to look up at the night sky above them.

"I don't care anyways," said Lola in a voice that was softer than before. "He left and I have no intention of looking for him. My Uncle Reggie is the only one that I'll ever need in this world."

"Oh…that's…that's good to hear," muttered Randi in a small voice that held a note of disappointment as he turned to look down at the table top again.

Lola noticed the note in his voice as she turned to look at Randi with a raised eyebrow for a moment. Her face then softened as a smile appeared on her muzzle before she spoke again.

"But you know…it doesn't hurt to have a friend by your side either," she added.

Randi blinked in surprise as he turned to look at Lola, who was smiling at him. A blush began to form on Randi's cheeks and he was glad that his fur was able to hide it from Lola.

"T-thanks," said Randi as he smiled back at Lola. "I'm also glad that I could have a friend like you around as well."

Lola let out a chuckle before her features took on a thoughtful look. Randi saw the look and became curious to what Lola was thinking.

"You know," started Lola as she stood up from the table. "Since you're new on the streets, how about I show you around? I can show you all the places that you can use as escape routes and I know of some of the best restaurants around here as well."

Randi became interested at what Lola had said before he answered Lola by nodding his head 'yes'. With that, Lola told her uncle that she and Randi were going to venture around the city for a while. After being told by her uncle to be careful, Randi and Lola walked out of the café together. Lola had decided to take Randi to one of her favorite restaurants for dinner that night as they walked side by side under the dark starlit night. Lola led him to an Italian restaurant that she knew of and was friends with the owners there. They walked around to the back before Lola told him to stay hidden around the corner for a moment. Lola confidently walked up to the back door of the restaurant, and used her front left paw to scratch at its wooden surface. The owner of the restaurant answered the door and was over joyed to see Lola, but Randi was surprised by the owner calling Lola by a different name.

"Bella!" exclaimed the owner happily. "It's is so good to see you again girl. It has been quite a while since you came to visit."

Lola playfully barked at the owner before she turned to where Randi was hiding before motion for him to come forward. Randi slowly walked out from around the shadows of the corner as he cautiously made his way up to the owner. The owner was a little surprised that Lola had a male companion, but was happy to meet him none the less.

"Well…looks to me like you brought along a special guest tonight," said the owner with a wink. "Let me set up a table for you and your friend."

The owner went back into the restaurant to get a few things. When he did, Randi got the chance to talk to Lola as he asked her a question.

"Why did he call you, Bella?" asked Randi curiously.

"Well…let's just say that once in a while I would visit different restaurants and they would give me a name that best fit me, since they don't know my real name." Lola explained with a smile. "And trust me, being called Bella is a better name than some of the other names I've been given."

"I'll take your word for it," said Randi with a chuckle.

The owner of the restaurant soon came back out with a large table/basket. On top of the basket was a blue and white checkered table cloth. The owner then placed a small basked of bread sticks and a lit candle on an empty champagne bottle. The owner then pulled out the menu for Lola and Randi to look at as he leaned the menu up against the bread sticks. After looking over the menu, Lola turned to look at the owner and barked to let the owner know what they wanted. The owner didn't hesitate as he quickly walked back into the kitchen and told one of his kitchen staff, who Lola was also friends with, what Lola and Randi wanted. The owner and staff had a small argument about dogs not being able to talk, but the owner soon came back out again with a large plate of spaghetti and meatballs.

Randi and Lola looked at one another with a smile before they began to dig in. As they ate, the owner and his kitchen staff member came out and began to play music, while also sing to them. Randi was really enjoying himself as he listened to the song that the owner and his staff member were singing and playing. Randi was completely distracted by what was going on that he didn't realize that the strand of spaghetti he was eating was the same strand that Lola was eating. Lola had also been distracted by the owner and the staff member's song as well as she ate the strand of spaghetti. The two dogs continued eating the same strand of spaghetti before the met in the middle. That action caused the two dogs to touch noses with their eyes widening in shock.

Lola quickly nipped off her end of the spaghetti strand and turned away from Randi with a blush that was luckily hidden under her fur. Randi blinked in surprise at what had just happened before a smile appeared on his face. Randi then used the tip of his nose to push a meatball from his side of the plate over to Lola's side. Lola looked down at the meatball before looking at Randi with a soft smile upon her face. Randi smiled back Lola before he slowly shifted up to female dog's side. Lola also shifted up to Randi and soon the two of them were pressed up against each other as they began to nuzzle one another. Randi began to feel warm inside his chest and he knew what this feeling was. This was a feeling that he once had with Jade, except…this was a different feeling. Unlike before when his legs had been reduced to being shaky as jelly and feeling light headed by Jade, Randi felt like his heart was soaring and that he was more comfortable around Lola. Lola had come to like Randi for who he was, while Jade had only liked Randi as Spike and wanted him to be filthy rich. Lola had been more of a true friend to him than anyone else at Careface's casino and had given him a chance at a new life.

Randi could feel his heart beat fast, but steady within his chest as his tail, along with Lola's tail, began to wag in happiness. Randi now knew that he was not only friends with Lola, but was also in love with her and he had a feeling…that also…Lola loved him in return.

To be continued


	11. Chapter 11

A Noble Heart

Here's the next chapter of my 'All Dogs go to Heaven'. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

*8*

Sorry for the long wait people, my writing partner and I were enjoying our Christmas holidays, but here's the next chapter coming straight at ya! I hope you all enjoy it and that you all have a great New Year!

Chapter 11

Sometime later, Randi arrived at Charlie's new casino on its opening night and while he was amazed by how much nicer it was then Carface's old Casino, he was still in La-La-Land as he kept thinking about how special his time with Lola was over and over again. His head was so in the clouds he didn't realize where he was going until...

CRASH!

Randi found himself knocked onto the ground when he rammed into Anne-Marie, who had dropped her things when they crashed. Randi looked down and yelped as he helped the girl up and asked "I am so sorry, I didn't see you! Are you alright?!"

"No, Charlie said he would look for my parents, but he didn't. He's just like Carface." Anne-Marie said "So I'm leaving."

"You can't leave, where would you go?" Randi asked as she picked up her things.

"Anywhere that is not here." Anne-Marie said

"Okay, but I bet Charlie would be very worried sick if his little angel ran away from him." Randi said, he had no idea why he called her 'Charlie's angel' but he had to say something nice in this situation that he found himself in.

Anne-Marie stopped in shock and then she turned to Randi as she asked "You... you really mean it?"

"Yeah, I can tell you and Charlie are just perfect for each other." Randi said "And who knows, maybe you can bring out a side in the dog he never knew he had before."

"You know what... you're right! And I know just what to say to him!" Anne-Marie said as she ran to where Charlie was, while Randi followed close behind her.

Once they were over at the bar where Charlie was chatting with Itchy before Anne-Marie suddenly flung her arms around the dog and squealed with glee "Oh Charlie! To think I wanted a family and I found one right here in front of me!"

"Wh-what are you talking about?" Charlie asked "And let go, I can't breathe!"

"Randi told me that I was your angel, and suddenly I figured it all out all by myself. The way you took me to betting races and stores and a whole lot more... you want to adopt me as your own daughter!" Anne-Marie declared with happiness.

"WHAT?!" Charlie and Itchy exclaimed at the same time in shock. Charlie was so shocked he tumbled out of his bar seat and Itchy almost dropped the glass cup he was polishing on the floor along with himself.

"Oh don't be so bashful," Anne-Marie said "If you had wanted to adopt me you could've just said so and I would've been so happy to say yes! Would I have to change my name to Barkin now? Or maybe just keep my name the way it is?"

"But-but-bubba-hob-bob-wah-wah?!" Was all a shocked Charlie could produce as he tried to get back on his paws.

"And does this mean I can call you Uncle Itchy?" Anne-Marie asked Itchy.

"Uh-aga-wh-whana-whopla-who." was all Itchy could say due to being too shocked to respond correctly.

"Don't worry Uncle Randi, I didn't forget you." Anne-Marie said as she hugged her newly dubbed uncle before she ran back to her room with her things.

Randi smiled as she watched the girl head off with a smile on her face... then he gulped when he saw the raging fire in Charlie and Itchy's eyes. "D-Did I say something wrong?"

"Dog to dog meeting, now." Charlie hissed "Itchy, you stay and keep an eye on the kid, keep her from spreading the news okay? This won't take long."

Once they were in Charlie's office he paced the floor while Randi sat on the couch and Charlie said "How could you get me into such a mess?! I have enough problems getting myself into problems but this one-this one takes the cake! How could you have convinced her I wanted to adopt her!?"

"I... I had to say something, otherwise she would've left." Randi said

"And now here I am with a kid thinking that I'm her newly adopted Daddy," Charlie said "If word gets out about this I'll be ruined for sure! And I just got my reputation back, now it's in danger of being ruined again! What will the other dogs think? What will the ladies think? What will the humans think?! I'm dead!" Charlie exclaimed "Suddenly being dead sounds a lot better than putting up with a dog who-"

"What do you mean by, being dead?" Randi asked

"Uh... I mean... you know that phrase people say when they're in big trouble or... something. Anyway who cares, what am I going to tell Anne-Marie? I have no idea what do to!"

"You think of something but still... what happened that night." Randi asked "When Carface... you know, tried to kill you?"

"Ugh, you won't believe me." Charlie said with a sigh "I hardly believe it myself."

"Maybe it'll help you feel better." Randi asked "Just tell me."

"Alright, here it goes." Charlie said "I... I lied about when Carface said he tried to kill me... the truth is he DID kill me."

"What?!" exclaimed Randi as he stared at Charlie in shock. "B-But that's impossible, you're still here!"

"Yeah, well I'll get to that." Charlie asked "I went up to heaven, due to the fact that dogs are naturally good and loyal and kind, and well I've never done a good thing in my life so maybe the heavenly dudes could use an upgrade in that fancy heaven book of theirs. Any who I got to heaven and met this angelic whippet Annabelle and I charmed her so I could get this."

Randi looked at the watch that hung around Charlie's neck as Charlie grasped it in his paws. "This watch isn't just a watch, it's my life watch and as long as I have it and keep it working I'm invincible to dying again. I stole it, went back to Earth and the rest is history."

"You... you went to heaven... and stole your own time watch?!" Randi asked in shock "I... I don't believe it!"

"It's true, and I can prove it." Charlie said before he noticed a rat poison bottle nearby

Randi watched in shock as Charlie drank the entire bottle down and waited for the dog to drop dead... but nothing happened. Randi was shocked and could hardly believe what he had witnessed "You... you are indestructible to death!"

"Yes, and that's a good thing, but the bad thing is... well, Annabelle did say that I'll never be allowed to go back to Heaven after what I did... so that means I'll end up in... you know where."

"Yikes." Randi exclaimed "Does Itchy know?"

"No, I never told him." Charlie said "You're the first dog I ever told. And other then you and me, nobody is going to believe this so just keep this between ourselves. Okay?

"I don't think anybody'd believe me either, so no worries." Randi asked "But still what are you going to do with Anne-Marie?"

"I'll... I know. I'll take her to deliver pizza to some pups and a dame I know." Charlie said "Lives on top of that old church far from sight. Then I'll figure out the rest from there."

"And you want me to come along?" Randi asked curiously.

"No thanks, you've done enough." Charlie said with a frown.

"Fine, I can take a hint." Randi said with a sigh.

With the conversation over, Randi headed out of the casino and started wondering around the streets for a while. Randi then came to an abandoned alleyway where he spotted a large old crate with a few old blankets inside it. He decided to rest there for tonight before he headed to Reggie's café tomorrow morning. Randi made himself comfortable in the crate as he laid down and let out a long yawn before curling up. He soon fell asleep not long after as he cuddle in the old blankets of the crate.

The next morning, Randi woke up from his slumber with sandy eyes and a loud rumbling coming from his stomach. He wanted to go back to sleep, but then he noticed something off when he looked towards the entrance of the alleyway: Anne-Marie was walking down the street all by herself.

Concerned, Randi quickly jumped out of the crate and raced out of the alleyway before he was soon walking beside the girl and said "Anne-Marie, where's Charlie?"

"He's still asleep," she said "I learned he stole a wallet from a nice family and I'm going to take it back."

"You know going out by yourself is not a good idea, what about Carface? If he sees you out here you'll be dragged back to that ship and locked in the brig for sure!" Randi said in concern.

"I don't care." The girl said as she continued to walk down the street.

"I do, I care a lot!" exclaimed Randi as he continued to walk beside Annie-Marie. "And somewhere deep down, Charlie does too, he's just afraid to show it, that's all."

Anne-Marie was about to speak when a car suddenly zoomed by, almost hitting her but Randi grabbed her by her skirt and pulled her backward, saving her just in time. After a moment of recovering, Anne-Marie hugged Randi tight and he hugged her back. After a moment of hugging and recovering from their shock at what had almost happened, the two friends continued to walk down the street together. They were quiet for a while, but the silence was soon broken when Annie-Marie suddenly asked a question that had been in her head for a while.

"Why did you lie about your name? And does Carface know?" Anne-Marie asked as she looked down at the dog that walked beside her.

"I... They mistook me for my brother, who was sent to the pound. I had to play along until I saw how horrible Careface really was so I left. But for all I know he still thinks I'm my cruel and despicable brother Spike... along with everybody else in his crew. All they want is Spike the abusive, not Randi the... the dog everybody always uses for a punching bag."

Anne-Marie looked at Randi before she hugged him again, this time a little longer before she said "Well, I love the real you Randi, and I don't care what anybody says, you will always be my best friend."

"Same here, kiddo," said Randi with a smile, but as he hugged his friend, he thought back to his old human family and wondered if he really had made the right choice in leaving them behind or not. But he didn't have enough time to figure it out, he had to get Anne-Marie to the house and return the wallet.

Meanwhile at the pound, everything was normal until a familiar angry dog emerged from the ground after digging an escape tunnel from his cell to the outside and he huffed angrily before he roared at the top of his lungs "RANDI! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU FOR THIS!"

He had heard what had happened from the other jail dogs and learned that while he rotted in the pound, Randi was living the good life, taking over his name and identity and everything else and for that, Spike was going to make sure his brother would suffer for everything and this time when he said he would kill him, he really would kill him.

To be continued


	12. Chapter 12

A Noble Heart

Here's the next chapter of my 'All Dogs go to Heaven'. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

*8*

Chapter 12

Randi walked with Annie-Marie as the two of them looked for the house where the owners of the wallet lived. Their search took them to a fancy looking neighbourhood with large two story houses. Randi couldn't help but give a little whistle at what he saw around him.

"Whoa, these people must be living the high life in this place," said Randi as he and Annie-Marie walked down the street together.

"Which do think is the couple's house?" asked Annie-Marie with a worried look upon her face.

Randi stopped in his tracks with Annie-Marie stopping alongside him. Randi frowned as he thought over what Annie-Marie said before an idea came into his head.

"Annie-Marie, can I take a look at that wallet?" asked Randi.

Annie-Marie nodded before she held the wallet out in front of Randi. Randi looked at the wallet before he held his nose over it and began to sniff it. After a second of sniffing the wallet Randi pulled away before he bent his head down towards the sidewalk. He began to sniff around the pavement for a moment before he caught the familiar scent that he had gotten from the wallet.

"Okay, I got the scent," said Randi as he began to walk in the direction the scent was going to.

Anne-Marie followed close behind Randi as he led her to the house that held the couple. The house, like the other houses they walked by, was of the same height and structure.

"Well…this is the place," said Randi as he and Anne-Marie looked up at the house.

Anne-Marie held a nervous look as she gazed at the house before her. Randi noticed this before he walked up to the young girl and nuzzled her hand. Annie-Marie looked down at Randi, who smiled up at her in encouragement.

"It's going to be okay," said Randi gently. "You're a lot braver than you know."

Annie-Marie smiled before nodding her head at Randi before turning forward and began to make her way towards the front door of the house. Randi quickly hid in one of the bushes of the house's front yard as he watched his human friend make her way up to the front door. Once she was on the porch, Annie-Marie rang the doorbell and waited for the owners of the house to answer. Annie-Marie didn't have to wait for long as the owners of the house opened the door. Randi saw that the owners were a young adult couple that looked to be around in their twenties. Annie-Marie began to talk with the couple as she presented them their wallet. Randi couldn't hear what was being said despite his sharp hearing, but he could tell that the conversation was going okay as the couple invited Annie-Marie inside for breakfast. Randi was able to come out of the bush once the front door closed. A smile spread across his muzzle as he stared at the front door of the house for a while.

' _I think I can leave her here for a while,_ ' thought Randi as he turned and began to walk away from the house as he walked down the street back to city. ' _Those two adults look like a good couple to be around with and they seem pretty nice. I believe that they will be able to look after Annie-Marie for a bit._ '

With that thought in mind, Randi was able to feel relaxed in knowing that his human friend was in safe hands. Randi made his way to Reggie's café as he decided to have breakfast there with Lola before starting work. It didn't take long for him to get there as he remembered some of the short cuts that Lola had shown him before they went on their dinner date. When he got there, Randi saw Reggie cooking up some eggs and sausages on the stove. He also saw Lola, who was cleaning the counter of the bar table.

"Morning!" greeted Randi as he walked up to Lola and Reggie.

"Ah, good morning rookie!" said Reggie as he turned to smile at Randi. "You here to have some breakfast?"

"If it's not too much trouble," said Randi with a bashful smile.

"It's no trouble at all," said Reggie before he looked over at Lola. "Lola, why don't you and Randi have a seat at one of the tables? You can continue on with the cleaning later after that."

"Okay uncle," said Lola with a smile before she led Randi over to one of the tables.

The two sat down as they made themselves comfortable at the table, while they waited for their breakfast. Randi decided to speak first as he leaned against the surface of the table to quietly chat with Lola.

"I wanted to thank you for…well, you know, for supper last night," said Randi as a small blush appeared on his cheeks. "It was great, not to mention delicious."

Lola also blushed under her fur as she smiled at Randi. Ever since last night, Lola had been thinking about what had transpired between them. She didn't deny that the night had been a special one. She also didn't deny that she come to find that she had been growing more attracted to Randi.

Randi wasn't like the other male dogs that she would occasionally bump into on the streets. The dogs that she had met had been nothing but rude, egotistic, inconsiderate and many other things that she didn't want to name. But Randi was the complete opposite of those dogs. He was soft spoken, shy, considerate and gentle. It was a refresher to what Lola had experience and she liked the change.

"I'm glad that you enjoyed yourself," said Lola.

Randi quickly glanced over his shoulder to look at Reggie for a moment before turning back to look at Lola again. He leaned forward as he whispered in a low voice so that only Lola could hear him.

"So…does your uncle know about us?" asked Randi curiously and a little bit fearfully.

"Yeah," replied Lola with a smile. "I told him last night and surprisingly he took it very well."

"How well?" questioned Randi.

Lola thought over Randi's question for a moment before answering him with a calm smile.

"He said that he was glad that I was going out with someone who wouldn't take advantage of me," she said.

Randi relaxed as a smile of relief appeared on his face. Even though Reggie looked like a laid back guy, Randi got the feeling that Lola's uncle was very protective over her.

"At least he approves of me," voiced Randi.

Lola chuckled as Randi slumped back in his seat before she asked him about what he did this morning. Randi was about to tell her, but Reggie soon came over and placed their plates on the table. On Randi's and Lola's plates were eggs, sunny side up, bacon and some toast with jam on top.

"Here you two go," said Reggie with a smile upon his face. "Reggie's famous café breakfast, on the house."

"Thanks, Uncle Reggie," said Lola before Reggie walked back to the kitchen.

Randi looked around and saw that the café was empty of any customers and turned to look at Lola with a questioning look upon his face. Lola saw his look and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Business starts out slow during the mornings," explained Lola with a chuckle. "So you pretty much got here just in time before the rush hour came around."

"Oh," said Randi in understanding, "That explains things."

Randi soon got down to telling Lola what he did before he came to the café, while he dug into his breakfast. Lola listened intently to what Randi was telling her and she couldn't help but growl when she heard what Charlie had done. Randi then told her about how he helped Annie-Marie find the owners of the wallet, while mentioning how the couple that own the wallet had invited Annie-Marie to stay for breakfast. Once he was done, Lola let out a sigh of anger and frustration.

"I can't believe Charlie would use a sweat girl like that to steal a couple's wallet," said Lola with a frown, but that frown soon changed into a smile. "But I'm glad that you helped Annie-Marie in finding the owners of the wallet."

"I was happy to do so," said Randi as Lola began to eat her breakfast as well. "Annie-Marie is my friend after all and I just want to see her happy."

"Sounds like you care about her a lot," said Lola as she finished her breakfast.

Randi only nodded his head in agreement as a smile appeared on his face. Lola smiled back at him before she stood up from the table and picked up their empty plates.

"Well…enough talk," said Lola as she began to make her way to the kitchen. "I'll put these plates away for us. After that, I suggest you get ready for work because we might have a lot of customers coming into my uncle's café shortly."

Randi chuckled as he stood up from the table and began to follow after Lola. As Lola predicted, customers began to flow into the café and sit down at the tables. Randi was ready to take some of the customers' orders before going back to Reggie and telling him the food that he needed to cook. Lola also helped out in the kitchen as she cooked the food that the customers had orders. Randi, Lola and Reggie continued to serve the customers their food until things started to slow down as the customers began to leave the café with satisfied tummies.

Randi let out a sigh of relief as he wiped the back of his arm across his forehead: "That was what I call a rush hour."

Lola giggled as she gave Randi a fond smile, while Reggie only smirked at the young pup. Reggie then turned as he started to clean the dishes.

"Do you need any help, Uncle?" asked Lola as she walked up to Reggie's side.

"Nah, I'll be able to handle things from here," said Reggie with a wink. "Why don't you and Randi go explore the city together and show him a few more tricks about how to survive on the street."

Lola was a little surprised at what her uncle had said but soon smiled as she gave Reggie a nod. Lola walked around the counter to meet up with Randi, who had a look of bewilderment on his features, before the two of them walked out of the café together.

"Wow," voiced Randi once he and Lola were out of Reggie's hearing range. "I your uncle always this laid back?"

"Sometimes," giggled Lola with a smile. "It's best not to think too much about it."

Randi frowned as he glanced up at the sky that was half hidden by the roofs of the city. He nearly slipped into thought about how easy going Reggie was before Lola snapped him out of his thinking by suddenly kissing him on the cheek. Randi turned to look at Lola in surprise as a blush formed on his cheeks.

"Come on," said Lola as she started to change her walk into a trot. "We got a whole city to explore and you really need to learn a little more about what life on the streets are like."

Randi smiled as he also changed his walked into a trot as he kept pace with the street dog that he was starting to fall in love with.

To be continued


	13. Chapter 13

A Noble Heart

Here's the next chapter of my 'All Dogs go to Heaven'. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

*8*

Chapter 13

Once Lola had Randi all to herself, she saw this as one of those special moments in which she could have fun with her new friend. She smiled as she snuggled close to Randi and said "So, which skill would you like to learn first? How to outsmart Dogcatchers singlehandedly or which places has the best food in town."

"How about both? I mean, if you don't mind and... well..." Randi stammered, feeling his entire face blush with embarrassment before it got even worse when his furry belly let out a loud rumbling sound, making him blush even harder.

"Was that your stomach?" Lola asked "Or were you growling at something?"

"S-Sorry, I get hungry really easy." Randi said "When I lived with my brother Spike he always got the food and I end up starving because of him... and suffering a lot of aches and bruises due to me being his favorite punching bag to bash around with."

Lola frowned and said "Does he... abuse you a lot?"

"Whenever he gets a chance." Randi said "I tried to stand up to him before but... but he always won. I just... I'm just so worthless sometimes. No wonder I accepted my brother's identity into Carface's gang... I just wanted to belong somewhere. To actually feel wanted and cared for instead of being... as Spike would call me 'A useless mutt'."

"You are not a useless mutt." Lola said softly "You are not worthless or anything your brother says you are. You are a very special dog. You're a very kind dog, you care for others like Anne-Marie and you're very lucky because you met me... or rather I met you."

"You know... I think Charlie actually does care about Anne-Marie a lot more then he lets on." Randi said "All he needs is a chance to prove it."

"Charlie? Caring about children? I don't think he has it in him at all." Lola said "And yet he doesn't treat Anne Marie as badly as what Carface did to her."

"I take it you know Carface?" Randi asked

"Yeah, long ago he offered me to work for him." Lola said "But I refused, my uncle told me how horrible and nasty he was so I not only refused his proposal, I took down every single one of his toughest men by outsmarting them."

"And what if he finds out I had been lying to him the whole time I worked with him..." Randi asked "Carface will do horrible things to me and Jade, I feel guilty that she kissed me-"

"WHAT!?"

Randi jumped when Lola suddenly raised her voice before she shot him a nasty glare as she said "You... you actually kissed Jade? Jade, Carface's most devious snake in the grass and my most hated enemy in the whole world? You kissed Jade!?"

"But-but that was only because she thought I was Spike! I mean, it's not that I didn't like her kiss a lot more than yours, I mean they both made me feel something different but-" Randi was cut short when he fell over and Lola loomed over him with anger in her eyes.

"Days ago, I overheard Jade talking about kissing the most wonderful guy in the world and... and all this time I never put two and two together... She was talking about you!" Lola's face became a mixture of anger, heartbreak and betrayal as tears began forming in her eyes "What am I, just another girl you can swoon over then ditch when you find a prettier girl then me?"

"No, you got it all wrong, I would never betray anyone!" Randi exclaimed

"You just did!" Lola exclaimed tearfully "You shared your first kiss with Jade, and she's been bragging about it ever since! Even dreaming about marrying rich, heartless snobs... like you!"

"Lola, please, you got this all wrong!" Randi tried to explain "Just listen to me!"

"Forget it, I'd rather rot in a dog pound then spend another minute with you! I thought you were a great guy... I thought you weren't like those other chump turkeys roaming around the streets of New Orleans... But I was wrong! You're just as terrible as Carface himself!"

"No, I'm not!" Randi snapped angrily "You can't just jump to conclusions just because of one stupid kiss, it doesn't mean anything! It's nothing but a dumb kiss with some dumb girl!"

Lola felt so insulted and hurt that she slapped Randi across his snout and ran off, crying the whole time. Randi's anger turned into guilt as he tried to follow her, shouting "W-Wait a minute! I didn't mean it when-come back!"

"Just stay away from me, get out of my life!" Lola shouted before she ran off, leaving Randi all alone.

Once she was gone, Randi became so guilty over what he said he broke into tears himself as he said "Oh no...what have I done?"

He didn't have enough time to feel sorry for himself as the sudden sound of gunshots filled the air and Randi poked his head around the corner to see Charlie carrying Anne-Marie on his back and running from Carface and Killer, who were being corkscrewed by an out of control ray gun.

Randi followed them when they ducked inside an abandoned building and made sure the bad dogs weren't following them around as he watched them bound right past them, making the dog sigh in relief. Once the coast was clear, Randi walked over to the costume trunks where Charlie and Anne-Marie emerged unharmed and alive.

"Are you alright?" Randi asked, making Anne-Marie jump as she let out a little yelp.

"It's alright Squeaker," Charlie said "It's just good ole Remy here."

"Randi, it's Randi." Randi said "And what happened?"

"Charlie came and took me out of the couple's house," Anne-Marie said "Then Carface... I thought they shot him and..."

"Need a hug? I could use one right now." Randi said.

Anne-Marie hugged Randi tight and he did the same before Charlie climbed out and yanked the junk off himself as he said "Alright guys, tea party's over. I'm going to get back at Carface for this and nothing or nobody is going to stop me!"

"Well at least it's not half as bad as what happened to me." Randi said as he hung his head in shame once he parted from the girl "Me and Lola got into a fight and now she thinks I'm as bad as Carface."

"No you are not even close to being bad as what Carface is." Charlie said "Trust me, you and him ain't even that close enough to be like twins in personality let alone anything else. Besides, Lola's always got that bad habit of jumping to conclusions, just like when I pranked her back at the café."

"You pranked her?" Randi asked

"Yeah, that was before I met you and Squeakers. I decided to write a fake letter to her that her father was finally coming home, and she brought it, hook line and sinker. You should've seen the look on her face when I came out dressed in an oversized fur coat before I ripped it off and yelled 'Surprise!' What a riot!"

"That wasn't very nice Charlie. You must've really hurt her feelings very badly when you did that." Randi said

Charlie was about to speak when suddenly the floor below him began to move and the old wooden boards cracked below them. The next thing they knew, Randi, Charlie and Anne-Marie fell down a hole and into a hidden underground river below. But that wasn't the worst part. Charlie's watch, which the dog had lost, began to bounce up and down the top of the water before something below did the same to the human girl and the two dogs.

Randi had no idea what was going on but he could already tell that whatever was responsible for it, he wasn't going to like this one little bit.

To be continued


	14. Chapter 14

A Noble Heart

Here's the next chapter of my 'All Dogs go to Heaven'. Sorry for the long wait everyone, I had to take my smaller laptop in for repairs because the batter was getting ready to die out on me. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

*8*

Chapter 14

Back with Lola, she was walking around the streets with a look of anger on her face. She was still miffed at what Randi had told her about kissing another female dog.

' _That no good, lousy mutt!_ ' thought Lola fiercely to herself as she turned down a dark alleyway to avoid being seen by any humans. ' _I can't believe he kissed that sticking Jade when he was pretending to be his brother!_ '

Lola walked a few more steps before her paws slowed and she came to a halt as she began to think a little clearer about the argument that she had with Randi.

' _Maybe I might have jumped to the wrong conclusion,_ ' thought Lola calmly, but she quickly shook her head as she stubbornly remembered what Randi had said. ' _But that doesn't change on what he said about how meaningless our kiss way! I hope I never see his sorry face again as long as I live!_ '

With that thought firmly in her mind, Lola started to walk forward again. She was suddenly stopped in her tracks again when the loud sound of trashcans falling to the ground caused Lola to turn around in surprise and suspicion. Lola stared at the pile of trashcan that lay in front of the alley entrance. She continued to stare at the pile of trashcans for a moment before shrugging it off and turned around to start walking again. But what she didn't realize was that someone was hiding behind the trashcans and before she even realized it, the one that had been hiding behind the trashcans suddenly sprung out at her. Lola didn't get a chance to fight back as her ambusher tackled her to the ground. The force of the tackle made Lola bang her head down on the concrete ground, not enough to crack her head but enough to knock her out. Lola lay unconscious on the ground as a figured covered in shadow glared down at her with a smirk upon his features.

Carface's Casino

Back at the Casino Boat, Carface was in a bad mood as he threw things around in his office in anger and frustration. Killer was watching this in the corn with a look of fear upon his face as Carface would stop for a second to pace around the room before grabbing something that wasn't tied down and throwing it against one of the walls of his office. Killer was hiding behind one of the sofas in Carface's office as he watched his boss flinging things around in his anger.

"That no good, lousy dog!" shouted Carface angrily as he threw a lamp at the far wall of his office. "Once I get my paws on him for stealing that little girl from me, he's gonna wish that he had never been born!"

Killer remained quiet throughout the whole ordeal as he continued to hide from his enraged boss. After a while, Carface was standing in the middle of his office with his face red with fury. Killer soon spoke as he poked his head up from behind the back of the sofa.

"What I can't understand boss is how he was able to survive those laser shots," Killer said as he scratched the top of his head in confusion. "I mean, we saw those bullets hit him dead on, but he showed barely a scratch on him."

Carface heard what Killer had said and became curious about it as well, but he soon brushed it off as Charlie having just being lucky.

"Never mind that," said Carface as he began to walk back and forth across the floor of his office. "One way or another, I will get that little girl back."

"But how?" asked Killer with a frown.

Carface stopped in his pacing to glare at Killer in anger and frustration.

"Don't bother with stupid questions like that!" yelled Carface.

Killer yelped as he quickly ducked behind the sofa again, while Carface went back to his pacing. After a while, Carface stopped as he let out a frustrating growl before he turned to glare at the sofa that Killer was hiding behind.

"I want you to bring Spike in here now!" ordered Carface as he rubbed the underside of his chin in thought. "We might need him for what I plan to do to make Charlie suffer for his mistake in taking that little girl away from me."

Killer gulped behind the sofa as he slowly poked his head out from behind the seat of the couch.

"Um…that's going to be a bit of a problem, boss," said Killer in a small voice.

Carface hear what Killer had said as he turned a suspicious eye on the dog.

"What do you mean by that, Killer?" questioned Carface in a dangerous voice.

Killer hesitated for a moment as he thought over the words that he was going to say before he answered his boss's question.

"Well…I would appear that Spike is…"

"Yes…"urged Carface in an impatient voice.

Killer gulped again before he finally spoke the last words of his sentence.

"He's gone, boss," answered Killer.

All was quiet within the office as Carface took in the words that Killer had said to him before he exploded in a fit of rage and anger

"WHAT?!" shouted Carface.

Killer shrunk down behind the couch again with only half of his head being seen behind the seat of the couch.

"What do you mean he's gone?!" yelled Carface as he advanced towards the sofa.

"I-I-it's just as I said, boss!" exclaimed Killer fearfully. "I went to his room a few days ago and saw that he wasn't there!"

"Why didn't you tell me this beforehand?!" shouted Carface as he was now only a few feet away from the sofa.

"I-I-I-I thought that he must have gone on a few days of vacation time with Jade or something," explained Killer in a panic. "I thought he would be back, but I didn't think that we would need him for taking down Charlie."

Carface began to growl as his rage began to spike to dangerous levels, but his anger was more towards the disappearance of Spike than towards Killer.

"When I find that dog, I'm gonna…"

"Cool your jets, Boss," spoked a voice from the doorway of Carface's office. "Besides, you're taking your anger out on the wrong dog."

Carface and Killer turned their attention towards the door and saw a dog leaning against the door's frame with his arms crossed over his chest. Carface glared at the new dog in suspicion before he spoke.

"Who are you?"

"The name's Spike," said the dog with a wicked smirk upon his face, "the real Spike that was supposed to be part of your gang."

Carface raised an eyebrow in confusion, while Killer looked at the new dog with wide eyes and jaw dropped wide open.

"Huh?"

"Care to explain yourself?" questioned Carface with a hard look upon his features.

"Sure can," answered Spike in a smooth voice. "You see, the dog you mistaken as me was actually my brother, Randi."

"What?!" exclaimed Carface in shock.

"Yeah, and while I was in the dog pound my brother was taking my place in playing the part of being your loyal dog servant."

Carface was dumbfounded at what he had just heard before he turned to look at Killer, who was looking back at him with a sheepish look upon his face.

"Um…in my defense I didn't really get a good look at Spike here, because I forgot my glasses at the time." Killer said with a shrug.

Carface growled at Killer before he turned to look at Spike with a raised eyebrow.

"So…if you're Spike, then how did you escape from the pound?" questioned Carface.

"Let's just say it wasn't easy," Spike as he raised a paw up to examine his claws, "but I managed to get out of there no problem. Now I'm back and I want to get revenge on my brother for what he did to me."

"Well, you're just going to have to wait," said Carface as he turned and walked towards his desk. "Right now we need you for a little revenge of our own against an old _'friend'_ of mine."

"Charlie, right?" asked Spike as he looked at Carface's retreating form.

"That's right," replied Carface as he took a seat in his desk. "He's stolen something of mine and I want it back. I also want to make sure that I get rid of him once and for all."

"I wouldn't be surprised if Randi was with him," said Spike with a smirk.

This perked Carface's interest as he leaned against the surface of his desk.

"Is that right," said Carface.

"I'm positive," said Spike as he pushed off from the doors frame. "I also have a plan on how to get both Charlie and my brother to come to us."

Carface took on a thoughtful look as he stared intently at Spike for a few moments before he spoke again.

"And just what is your plan in getting Charlie and your brother to come to us?"

"By setting up the perfect bait," answered Spike with a smirk. "We just need to capture the girl to lure your old friend, Charlie, to us."

"And what about your brother?" asked Killer, who was now standing in the middle of the office.

The smirk on Spike's face grew evil before he turned and grabbed something that he had been hiding behind him for a while. He then threw what he had been hiding behind him into Carface's office. What landed on the floor of Carface's office was none other than Lola, who was tied up and gagged. Lola struggled in her bonds on the floor, While Carface and Killer stared down in shock and surprise to see the female dog in their office.

"I'll be using her to lure my brother to me," answered Spike with a chuckle. "It seemed that he had grown a close attachment to this mutt that he met on the street. I'm not surprised thou, after all my brother is a mutt himself and it's only fair that he find someone of his own kind on the streets."

Lola twisted in her bonds to glare at Spike in anger and resentment. Carface couldn't help but let out an evil laugh as he glared down at Lola's tied up form.

"Who would have thought that I would be seeing the street dog, Lola, again," said Carface in amusement. "Looks like that saying of 'killing two birds with one stone' might be true after all."

Scene change

Back with Randi, Charlie and Anne-Marie they were now held captive by a tribe of rats that lived underneath the city of New Orleans. The rats had put the three into cages and were now carrying them across a wooden dock/platform that was ten feet above the waters of the city. The rat's carried them to a large open lake that had a small rocky island that sat underneath the end of the wooden dock. Randi was quiet as he took in his surrounding as fear began to grip at his chest. The rats were chanting in a strange language that he couldn't understand and he had a feeling that Anne-Marie wasn't able to understand them either.

' _I'm getting a bad feeling about this place,_ ' thought Randi to himself as he continued to take in his surroundings.

The rats soon came to the end of the dock before they began to throw in their captives. The first thing to be thrown in was Charlie's watch, then Charlie, Anne-Marie and Randi. Randi let out a yelp of surprise at the sudden drop before his cage fell onto the island. His cage clattered and shook when it landed, but through all the noise Randi's ears picked up the sound of cracking bones. Randi looked down at the ground and his eyes widened in horror at the sight that met his eyes. On the island was a surface of multiple bones that looked to be from different animals.

' _Oh, man'_ thought Randi as he looked around at the ground. ' _What kind of animal…_ '

That was when Randi remembered a frightening story that his father had once told him and his brother, Spike. His father told him of a creature that was gigantic and would eat any living creature in a single bite. The creature was said to be living underneath the city of New Orleans and that if any being was foolish enough to venture down beneath the city, then their fate would be sealed by the creature. Randi's face grew pale as he now remembered what the creature's name was and if was right about this place then he and his two friends were in big trouble.

' _This is not good,_ ' thought Randi as he looked around. ' _We have to find a way out of here before…_ '

But his thoughts were quickly cut off when he heard the sound of large door creaking open and he turned his head towards where the sound was coming from. Over on the far side of the lake were two huge doors that swung wide open. Randi tensed as he looked on to see a few bubbles appear on the surface of the underground lake's waters.

"Randi," whispered Anne-Marie, whose cage was close beside his. "What's going on?"

Randi didn't reply for a moment, but he soon gulped down a lump that was forming within his throat before he answered Anne-Marie's question.

"I've heard stories about a monster that lives in an underground lake underneath New Orleans," spoke Randi with fear etched into his voice. "Beings like dogs or foolish humans were said to have wandered down here to what was underneath the city, but those who have…" Randi paused as a shiver went through his body, "those who have…winded up being this monster's dinner."

Anne-Marie shrunk down in fear at what Randi had said as the bubbles of the lake's surface came closer to the island. Randi continued on with his explanation as his fear of what was going to happen grew more inside him.

"The name of the monster that lives in this underground lake…is name King Gator."

As soon as he said the name, the monster of the underground lake soon rose up from the waters of the lake as it made itself onto the island. The monster revealed itself to be an oversized Alligator that had a look of hunger on its face and Randi knew that there was no hope of him and two friends now.

To Be Continued


	15. Chapter 15

A Noble Heart

Here's the next chapter of my 'All Dogs go to Heaven'. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

*8*

Chapter 15

Randi's blood ran cold as the hulking, scaly giant walked over to the cages, he felt like throwing up but he couldn't even breathe as the gator crunched bone after bone before it stopped, nearly missing Charlie's magic watch as the hungry beast gazed among his choices of his first course, a little girl and two dogs. He picked up Charlie as his mouth watered and he declared "You look like a tasty New Orleans canine gumbo!"

"No! Don't eat him please!" Anne-Marie cried

"Don't worry. We're the next course anyway." Randi said sadly.

Randi had never thought he'd end up in the belly of the gator, but that wasn't the worst part of this whole mess. The worst part was that not only would Anne-Marie become supper for a hungry gator instead of being part of a lovely family, but he never got the chance to apologize to Lola and make things right... how he wished he never snapped in the first place.

As his life flashed before his eyes, Charlie let out a loud howl the moment the gator put him in his mouth... and that was when King Gator did something unexpected. He took out Charlie and looked up at the platform of tribe mice.

"How do you expect me to eat a voice as sumptuous as this?"

"Huh?" Randi asked.

King Gator then went on about how he admired singers, even put on a little show for the confused trio, but at the beginning of the show, his tail accidently knocked into Anne-Marie and Randi's cages over, sending them rolling down and into the water where they broke on the shore. Randi and Anne-Marie quickly crawled out of their broken cages and sat down on the one of the larger rocks that stood next to the bone covered island. As Randi watched Charlie put up with the pushy and overbearing personality of the singing gator king, he checked up on Anne-Marie who began coughing and grunting.

"Are you alright sweetie?" Randi asked in concern.

"I don't... ugh, feel so good." Anne-Marie said in a small and weak voice.

"It's because we've been in the sewers for far too long." Randi said "We've got to get out of here right now."

As Charlie sang to keep the gator occupied on preforming instead of eating his friends, he saw Randi wave him over and pointing to Anne-Marie. So while the gator swam past the island, he helped Anne-Marie and Randi onto the gator and pulled Anne-Marie close as he said "You okay Squeaker?"

"She got sick because of being in the sewers." Randi said. "We've got to take her to a doctor right away."

"I don't know any doctors." Charlie said "I don't even know a vet!"

"Vets are for animals, doctors are for people. There's a big difference." Randi said.

"Ugh, my head," Anne-Marie said with a groan.

"Okay... here's the plan." Charlie told Randi. "I'll take Squeaker to the church again and think of what to do there, while you go find somebody who knows a doctor, or at least someone who's got extra medicine to spare."

"I'll see if Uncle Reggie knows something." Randi said "I do owe an explanation for missing work."

"Oh brother, it'll be a miracle if he believes the story about us with Captain Sing-A-Long here then me fostering this kid." Charlie said

"By the way, that was some howl you got." Randi said "How did you learn that?"

"Uh... let's just say it's a little talent I possess... but believe me I'm more of a gambling dog then a singing dog." Charlie said.

Once they parted ways, Randi ran as fast as he could to the café. When he arrived, he was greeted by a horrifying surprise. The place was on fire and judging by the looks of the broken windows, wrecked furniture and holes in the wall, this place had been under attack before being set on fire.

Randi was stunned at the damage that the café taken before he saw Uncle Reggie limbering out from behind the bar table. He only got a few steps towards the café entrance before he collapsed onto the ground. Randi quickly ran over to Uncle Reggie and grabbed him underneath his arms. Randi pulled him away from the burning café and managed to get him to safety before he gently slapped the Great Dane's cheeks to wake him up. Uncle Reggie coughed as Randi tended to him and he said "R-Randi..."

"Uncle Reggie, what happened?" Randi asked.

"Ugh... he came out of nowhere... those brutes destroyed everything... they demanded me to tell them where you were." Uncle Reggie said "When I told them I didn't have a clue, they tried to kill me... but Carface…"

"Carface?" asked Randi in fright.

"Yes, Carface…. he knows you lied to him." Uncle Reggie said as he slowly sat up. "And your brother... the real Spike, he escaped from the pound and took back the jacket you threw away..."

Then the Great Dane broke into tears as Randi comforted him in spite of his fears about his brother.

"Then... then they took Lola! They took my darling Lola!"

Randi was shocked and horrified... then his fear turned into rage as he looked at the sobbing dog and said "Where did they take her?"

"To Carface's casino boat," Uncle Reggie said "They... they were also going to fetch someone goin' by the name of Anne-Marie."

"Anne-Marie?!" exclaimed Randi as a cold chill ran down his spine "Oh no! Uncle Reggie, can you still use your legs?"

"Y-Yes, but why-" He was interrupted when Randi looked at him with a mixture of guilt and anger on his face

"Anne-Marie is the little orphan girl who can talk to animals. The same girl Carface has been using for who knows how long."

"Wait... Anne-Marie... human girl..." Uncle Reggie said before he gasped and exclaimed "Of course! I KNEW her! She was Bernie's kid! Bernie was my best friend and former waiter in my café! I knew I'd have heard that name before! But... but when Bernie was hit by that car... Carface told me she died of a broken heart."

"Carface knew that Bernie died... but he never told Anne-Marie that... he just lied, he told her he left her in his care and would never come back." Randi said, realizing that that heartless mutt had been lying from the start, making him even more angry.

"Why that lying, two faced, black hearted, cold blooded..." Uncle Reggie said as he growled before he said "That's it! I cannot take another moment of this heinous crime going unanswered! Randi, go to the boat and rescue those girls, no matter what you have to do! Meanwhile I'll get some help from the dogs and the police. By golly, I'll take this straight to the mayor of the city if I have to!"

Randi ran as fast as he could towards the boat but halfway there, he began to feel consumed by guilt and sadness. So much that by the time he crossed paths with Charlie, who was on the same rescue mission, he wrapped his arms around the dog and sobbed.

"H-Hey, what's wrong with you?!" Charlie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Anne-Marie... Lola... they're in danger because of me!" Randi wailed sadly "I... I wish I never went to that stupid boat in the first place! Why, oh why did I ever take my brother's place in Carface's gang? Why did I ever refuse to help Itchy free you from the pound!?"

"Wait... Itchy asked for your help... to free me?" Charlie asked.

"Y-Yes, and stupid me refused." Randi exclaimed as he pulled away from Charlie. "I am so stupid! But I was so tired of being treated like a punching bag and a mutt nobody wants around! I was so desperate I'd do anything to belong somewhere... but if I had known how monstrous Carface was... I...I..."

Charlie placed his paws on Randi's shoulders and said "Calm down buddy, you might not be able to undo the past, but you can prevent a bigger tragedy from happening. Now the question is... are you ready to fight for what's right?"

Randi looked at Charlie and nodded and said "For our friends, I'd do anything."

"Then come on, Randi." Charlie said "We've got loved ones to rescue."

Randi smiled at Charlie before he took off running with him, this time he felt like nothing was going to stop him, not Carface, not his gang, not even Spike, this time it was personal.

To be continued


	16. Chapter 16

A Noble Heart

Hey everyone, sorry about the long wait, but here's the next chapter of 'A Noble Heart'.

Chapter sixteen

Randi and Charlie ran down the streets of New Orleans as they raced towards the Carface's Casino in hopes to rescue Annie-Marie and Lola. With how fast they were running, the two dogs made good time as they arrived at the docks of Carface's Casino. Randi and Charlie slowed down to a walk when they came to the door of the casino. Randi grabbed the handle of the door, expecting it to be lock, but was surprise to find that it wasn't. Randi and Charlie a glanced at each other for a second before Randi slowly pushed open the door. The two friends slowly walked into the ship as they glanced around the empty casino apprehensively.

"I get the feeling that Carface and my brother are expecting us," said Randi with a frown as he looked around the casino. "Do you think it's a trap?"

"We can't worry about that now," whispered Charlie as he gave Randi a quick glance before looking around. "We have to find Squeaker and Lola."

Randi sighed before nodding "Alright, then I suggest that we split up and look for our two girls. You go look for Annie-Marie, while I go for Lola…along with my brother."

Randi turned away from Charlie and was about to go looking search of Lola and his brother. Charlie quickly stopped Randi with a look of concern on his features.

"Hold on, what do you mean you need to also look for your brother?" asked Charlie.

Randi didn't answer Charlie for a moment but when he did it was in a soft growl that reflected his anger.

"I've had enough of my brother ruining my life," spoke Randi in a determined voice. "All my life I let him push me around and I was afraid to fight him. Now it's time that I stand up to my brother." Randi turned to face Charlie with a serious look upon his face. "Charlie, I want your word that you'll try your best to get Annie-Marie out of here and take her back to the couple that have grown to love her."

Charlie stared at Randi in surprise before he took on a solemn expression as he slowly nodded his head at Randi.

"I'll try my best to get Squeakers back to Kate and Harold," promised Charlie.

Randi nodded back at Charlie before he started to turn, but stopped in his tracks as he turned to look at him one last time.

"And Charlie…If we don't see each other again," Randi paused as a small smile appeared on his muzzle. "I just wanted to let you know that you're more than what you think you are and that I'm proud to call you my friend."

Charlie stared wide eyed at Randi, shocked that someone like Randi had been willing to say that he thought of him as a friend.

"Um…yeah…you too, Randi," said Charlie in an embarrassed voice.

Randi smiled at Charlie before he turned forward again and quickly ran down the hall to where Lola's scent was the strongest. Randi ran down the hall for a moment before slowing down as he came to a three way fork in the road. Randi glanced at each of the three halls for a sec before he lowered his head and began to sniff the ground. It didn't take long for him to catch Lola's scent as he lifted his head and went straight down the hall in front of him. He ran down the hallway for about a minute before he came to a door where Lola's scent was strongest. The door was half closed and Randi knew that he had to be careful when he entered the room.

Randi slowly opened the door and saw Lola tied up on the ground gagged, and unconscious. On Lola's body were cuts and around her eye was a black bruise. Randi's eyes widened at the sight before he quickly ran over to Lola's side. He began to untie the ropes that bound Lola before he untied the gag around her muzzle. Once he got the ropes and gag off, he lifted Lola up into his arms and held her. He gently began to shake her in hopes of waking her up.

"Lola? Lola, wake up."

Lola let out a groan before she slowly opened her eyes. When she saw Randi staring down at her with concern. The sight of him had her heart grow warm with joy and relief, but she quickly remembered Carface's and Spike's plan.

"Randi…you shouldn't be here," voiced Lola in a strained voice. "Spike and Carface…they're…"

"I know," said Randi gently with a firm look upon his face. "But I wasn't just going to standby and do nothing, while you were in their clutches."

Lola stared up at Randi in surprise as a small blush appeared on the sides of her cheeks. But before she could say anything, she and Randi heard a chuckle from behind them.

"Well…ain't this a pretty picture." Randi quickly turned to look over his shoulder to see his brother standing behind him. "And here I thought that I would have to send some of Carface's gang members out to track you down."

Randi growled as he glared as his brother over his shoulder. He helped Lola to sit up before he turned and stood up from the ground to face his brother.

"There wasn't any need for you to send someone out to track me, brother," spat Randi as he clenched his paws into fists. "I've decided that I'm not going to run away from you anymore. This time, it ends here and now."

Spike scoffed as he smirked at his brother "So you've decided to grow a back bone now, huh? You must be either really stupid or really desperate to finally stand up against me."

"You and Carface have hurt Annie-Marie and too many innocent dogs," said Randi in a cold voice. "I'm going to make sure that you won't hurt another innocent soul ever again!"

Randi lunged forward as he tackled his brother to the ground. The sudden attack surprised Spike as he fell to the floor with his brother kneeling over top of him. Randi pulled his right arm back and punched his brother in the muzzle. Spike repaid in kind as he punched Randi underneath his muzzle. The two brothers snarled as they fought each other within the room as one of them tried to gain the upper hand. Lola watched from where she sat as Randi fought hard against his brother, while worry filled up inside of her heart.

Spike managed to get his back feet under Randi before pushing him off. The push sent Randi flying into one of the chairs within the room, which toppled back from the force of the impact. Randi rolled off the chair and landed back on all four of his paws. Randi quickly shook himself before he glared at Spike, who wiped some blood that was streaming down the corner of his mouth.

"Your stubbornness and kindness will be your downfall," growled Spike as he clenched his front paws into firsts. "But it will be a pleasure to kill you like I did with that Mountain Dog."

Lola's eyes widened at what she had just heard, while Randi growled viciously at his brother.

"You were part of Bernie's death?" questioned Randi angrily.

"Let' just say that it was part of Carface's…evaluation for me to be part of his gang," answered Spike with a smirk on his face. "Plus, that Mountain dog was getting too suspicious of us, especially when he noticed how Carface had taken a keen interest in that little girl of his."

Randi felt his blood boil to the point where he felt like it was on fire. He never knew that his brother would sink this low in killing other canines of their kind.

"You murderer," muttered Randi in a cold voice. "I can't believe you would kill an innocent dog just to get at Annie-Marie, while making her believe that Bernie had abandoned her!"

"You're one to talk," said Spike with a smirk. "After all you did take a part in murdering Carface's old business partner."

Randi snarled before he lunged at his brother again, thus knocking Spike through the door of the room. The two brothers crashed onto the floor of the hallway as they fiercely fought each other. They exchanged punches and bites between each other as they rolled around in the hallway with one of them trying to pin the other to the ground. Lola quickly ran towards the door and watched as the two brothers fought with each other.

Randi and Spike continued to fight with each other when the Casino Ship suddenly shook around the three dogs. Lola looked around the hall of the ship at the sudden movement, while the two brothers halted in their blows to look up in confusion as well.

"What was that?" asked Lola.

Before Randi could answer Lola's question, a sharp pain suddenly erupted from his side. Randi grunted in both surprise and pain before slowly looking down at his right side. Lola gasped in horror as tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. Randi saw a large knife stabbed into his side and attached to the knife's handle was his brother's paw. Randi slowly turned his head upwards to glare at his brother, who was smirking at him with a triumphant expression on his face.

"I've waited a long time to finally rid you from my life, _Brother_ ," said Spike in a low voice. "It always made me sick how you have always been our mother's favorite pup in the litter. I don't know why you were her favorite since you're nothing but a disgusting mix breed mutt."

Randi didn't reply as he only glared at his brother before grunting in pain when the knife was swiftly pulled out from his side. Randi fell to the ground in pain as Lola quickly ran up to him with tears rolling down her face. Spike smirked down at his brother before he threw the knife he had in his paw to the floor. He then turned and began to run down the hallway on all four paws as he headed towards the exit of the Casino.

Randi lay on the floor as he took in harsh breaths, while holding his left paw over the stab wound. Lola helplessly stared down at Randi for a moment before she quickly untied her bandana from her neck. She bunched her bandana up before she pressed it against Randi's wound to help stop the bleeding.

"Hold on Randi," said Lola as she looked down at her friend, "You're going to be okay."

Randi only groaned in pain before Lola slung his free arm over her shoulders, and started to help him towards the exit of the Casino. Spike had already exited out of the Casino and was now running down the dock as he headed towards the shore, but he never got to the shore as a large wave of water suddenly formed and rose up on his left side. The wave swept Spike off the dock and into the water where the jaws of King Gator were waiting for him.

Randi and Lola slowly made their way through the hallway, until they finally made it to the exit of the Casino. And just in time too as the Casino was slowly engulfed by the flames of a fire that emerged from the ship's lower deck. Randi held Lola's bandana tightly against his wound as they slowly made their way towards the shore, where a crowed of humans and dogs were standing at the shoreline.

"Hang on, Randi," said Lola in encouragement, "We're almost there."

It wasn't long until they finally made it to dry land before Randi felt his legs buckle underneath him. The act caused him and Lola to fall to the ground together. Lola slowly stood up as she sat at Randi's side with a scared look on her face.

"Randi, stay with me!" exclaimed Lola as she placed a paw on Randi's shoulder. "You need to stay awake until help arrives!"

Randi let out a groan as he slowly opened his eyes to stare up at Lola.

"Lola…" voiced Randi as the she-dog leaned over him. "I'll be alright…but what about Charlie and Annie-Marie…have they gotten out of the ship?"

Lola looked around from her spot beside Randi as she tried to pinpoint Charlie and Annie-Marie among the crowed of dogs and people. She spotted the familiar face of her Uncle Reggie before waving towards him. Reggie spotted his niece and Randi as he ran over to them before kneeling beside the two young dogs.

"Thank heavens," said Reggie as he hugged his niece before looking down at Randi in worry, "What happened lad?"

Randi was about to reply when suddenly one of the humans shouted out something. Randi weakly lifted his head as he, Lola and Reggie turned to look out at the waters of the swamp. Drifting across the water on a large piece of wood was Annie-Marie, but what surprised Randi the most was the dog that was pushing the wood towards the shore. It was Killer, one of Carface's henchmen. Randi felt relief at seeing that Annie-Marie was alive, but he frowned as he sadly looked towards the Casino that was sinking into the swamp as it was engulfed in fire.

' _Charlie,_ ' thought Randi as a single tear ran down the side of his right cheek. ' _You saved Annie-Marie by sacrificing your life for her…you really are a dog that's true to you word…my friend._ '

Randi then closed his eyes as his head dropped down to the ground, exhaustion finally taking over him. Lola and Reggie noticed this and quickly went to one of the humans, who is a veterinarian, for help. The vet quickly took Randi back with him to the hospital with Lola following close behind as she hoped and prayed that Randi would be alright.

To be continued

Here you go everyone. Sorry again for the long wait, but I was having a bit of a writer's block in creating this chapter. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Have a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year!

White Hunter, howling out to you and the spirits!


	17. Chapter 17

A Noble Heart

Here's the last chapter of my 'All Dogs go to Heaven' story. I hope you all enjoy it.

Chapter 17

Once Randi was admitted into the hospital, the doctors began to work hard on helping Randi. They sealed his wound with stitches before bandaging it, while making sure his bruises and cuts were tended to. All that time Lola waited with worry and grief outside the door. She paced back and forth until she felt like her legs were going to buckle underneath her. Uncle Reggie arrived to see Lola in such a state of worry and sadness.

"Lola my dear, please calm down." Reggie told her "Your practically making yourself a mess as it is and those bruises and cuts of yours..."

"I don't care about my cuts and bruises," Lola said as she stopped pacing to look at her uncle. "Didn't you see how badly Randi was beaten? Not to mention his own brother stabbed him, he wanted to kill him just because he was jealous of him!"

"Oh my dear," said Reggie as he pulled Lola close for a hug as she began to break down, crying her eyes out.

"And... and the worst part is... I... I never got to apologize to Randi. We... We had a fight and... Oh if anything happens to him, I'll never live with the shame!"

"There now my darling," Reggie said "No matter what happens, everything will be alright."

Lola was about to calm down when she heard it. The steady beating of the heart machine they had Randi connected to flat-lined.

"Randi?" Lola asked as she looked through the window at the body of Randi with more tears streaming from her eyes "Randi! RANDI!"

Scene change

Randi had no idea where he was but he somehow felt weightless. He opened his eyes to find himself hovering among the starry night sky and the clouds. Randi was in awe as he looked around before saying "Where am I?"

"Well, for starters," said a familiar voice "You can call it my new home."

Randi turned and saw Charlie who was smiling and... was that a halo floating over his head?

"C-Charlie! Is that a... Are we?" Randi asked in horror before he gasped and said "I'm dead!"

"Welcome to Heaven." said another voice, this one female.

Randi yelped when a pink whippet appeared and said "Don't worry dear Randi you won't be here for long. After talking things over, Charlie and I have decided to give you another chance at life."

"R-Really?" asked Randi, "But why am I here?"

"So I can get a few things off my chest between you and me." Charlie said as he walked over to Randi, helping him get his feet on solid ground or whatever it was "I am so sorry with everything. I used you as much as I did with Anne-Marie. I used you to get the kid in the first place. I used her to make millions, but... I never realized how much I missed being part of a family before... until you guys came into my life."

"Me and Anne-Marie... we're your family?" Randi said with a smile "Wow... but what about Itchy?"

"Don't worry, he's okay." Charlie said "I told Anne-Marie to look after him while I was gone."

"Is she okay?" Randi asked.

"Yeah, and she's adopted now." Charlie said "Which means no more dirty rags and money makers for her now that she's a protected and loved by her new parents."

"I'm glad everything worked out alright... but Charlie..." Randi said "What about you?"

"I got what I deserved." Charlie said "But don't worry, it's not so bad here in Heaven. Carface didn't exactly like it here though."

"Carface?!" exclaimed Randi in shock "How did _he_ get into heaven?!"

"Apparently all dogs go to heaven. No matter what they did in their past life," explained Charlie with a shrug of his shoulder.

"Does... does this mean that... m-my brother is..." Randi asked in horror "Is here?!"

"Nope, you see when I died the... guys who ran the underworld wanted me because of how I cheated death... but we eventually settled on a trade. Spike goes to the underworld and I go to heaven for giving my own life for Anne-Marie... And I'm sorry I wasn't there to prevent him stabbing you."

"I take it you were busy in handling Carface and his thugs." Randi said "But it's okay..."

Randi looked down too see his body becoming invisible and asked "What's happening?!"

"You're going back to earth." Annabelle said "And you should know that the whole time you left, your family has been worried sick about you. I think it's high time you returned to them, don't you think?"

Randi smiled tearfully before he hugged Charlie and said "I... I'll miss you!"

"I'll miss you too," Charlie said as he hugged his friend back "I hope we meet again soon... Just try not to die so soon okay?"

"Okay." Randi said before he felt himself falling back to earth

Before everything went black Charlie shouted "Oh and if you see Itchy, tell him he's the best friend I could've ever asked for!"

"Got it! Whoa!" Randi began to feel dizzy as he fell back towards earth as if he was tumbling down a tunnel of darkness and dimming lights.

Scene change

Randi felt sore and dizzy when he woke up. He began to look around the hospital room he was in before a nurse came in and said "Oh my, I told them those machines were on the frizz again."

She walked towards Randi and stroked his head before she said "There's someone here who will be glad to know that you're okay."

Randi, at first, hoped it was Lola but when he saw who it was that came through the door, his heart leapt for joy.

Alex stood there with tears in his blue eyes before he wrapped Randi up in a huge hug saying "Randi! Oh Randi! I missed you! Don't leave ever again!"

Randi playfully licked Alex's cheek and playfully nibbled on the boy's red hair as he always had done before as a playful banter.

Once he was back on his feet the next day, Randi was more than happy to be back home with his human family. He walked through the front door and happily bounded over to Alex's parents Andrew and Emily, who was holding a beautiful baby... girl?

Randi looked at the baby girl in confusion and then at Alex, who shrugged sheepishly "Remember all that fuss about having a little brother and changing my image to make myself a cooler big brother?"

Randi nodded his head at Alex's question.

"Yeah well... it turned out my baby 'Brother' turned out to be a baby 'Sister'." Alex said "It turned out the doctor's made a mistake during my mom's last check-up and... well needless to say, things went very awkward with my pals... ex-pals really..."

Randi nuzzled Alex's leg and looked at the baby as she wriggled around in her mother's arms happily. Randi could've sworn she was trying to say 'Doggie' but it sounded more like 'Dah-Do'.

Then Randi remembered Lola and ran out of the house through his doggie door. He ran with all his might until he made it to Anne-Marie's new home where he found Itchy sitting glumly by the tree of his new home. Randi walked over saying "Hey Itchy, how are things in your new home?"

"Good... but I miss Charlie." Itchy said.

"Well, before we went our separate ways in the Carface's Casino, Charlie told me to tell you that you're the best friend he could've ever asked for." Randi said as he came up with a half-truth tale to tell Itchy, because he was sure that Itchy wouldn't believe him when he said that he had met Charlie in heaven after his brief death. "And on his behalf, he's sorry he never told you sooner."

Itchy was shocked... and then he smiled happily before he began to bounce shouting "Whoo-hoo! He does like me, he really did thing of me as a friend! Hooray-ouch! Oh... still tender."

"Hope you feel better soon!" Randi said before he ran off to find his love.

Meanwhile back at the remains of the café, Reggie and Lola were doing their best to clean up but it wasn't easy as Lola was still heartbroken about what had happened to Randi. The memories she had of their first date and his valiant rescue brought tears to her eyes.

Reggie sighed as he gently placed his paw on Lola's shoulder and said "I know it hurts darling, and if I could I'd... Lola?"

Lola was still depressed and gently pushed her uncle's paw away as a sign that she wanted to be alone. Reggie frowned and walked away from Lola to give her space.

Lola was doing her best to make herself stop crying but she knew that it was no use.

"Lola! Lola!"

Lola's ears perked up when she heard a familiar voice calling out her name. Lola ran outside to see who it was and when she saw Randi coming towards her, she let out a joyful shout and tackled him into a tight hug the moment he came close. Randi hugged her tight as they rolled around in the dirt and Lola kissed his snout over and over again so many times he thought she was drown him in kisses.

Reggie ran over and joined in on the hugging as he said "Ha-ha! Well done my boy! Also, thank you, you saved my niece!"

"Sorry it took so long to get back." Randi said after he finished hugging Lola and Reggie. "Is the café going to be alright?"

"Yeah, but I may have to find a new location and find some new employees." Uncle Reggie said "It may take a while."

"Alex missed me and he took me home and I met his sister and... Lola, I was wondering if you'd like to come and live with me?" asked Randi with a smile "I could need and extra paw or two to help me with Alex's new baby sister."

"Well I... I..." Lola blushed as she tried to figure out what to say when Uncle Reggie placed his paw on Lola's shoulder and said "It's alright darling. You deserve a better life. Your mother would've wanted you to follow your heart. And don't worry about your ol' uncle Reggie, I'll be fine."

Lola smiled and hugged her uncle and said "Well, okay then Randi... Let's go home."

Randi took Lola back home where they found Alex playing with his new baby sister on the porch. Lola was uneasy but Randi gently led her towards the kids and Alex said "Hey Randi... is this your girlfriend?"

Lola nodded and Alex stroked her head, making her smile and she trotted over to the baby who giggled and looked at the street dog curiously as Alex said "Say hello to my baby sister, Baby Isabella."

Lola smiled at the little baby girl who happily gurgled and wriggled in her swaddle before the baby reached out and bopped Lola in the nose.

Lola walked over to Randi, rubbing her nose saying "I love that baby's sass! I'm going to love it here. I mean, what's not to love? A roof over your head a loving family" –Lola finished her sentence by softly nuzzling against Randi- "and a mate who is noble in nature and a golden heart."

Lola and Randi shared a passionate kiss before they looked up into the sky and swore they saw Charlie waving down at them from the clouds before they went inside to enjoy their wonderful future together.

THE END

And this is the end of the story. I'd like to give a big thank you to emmydisney17 in helping create this story.

White Hunter, howling out to you and creativity!


	18. AN

Author Anouncement

Okay everyone, you're probably wondering where the sequel to 'A Noble Heart' is. Well...look no further because it's already up and running. The one who has the story right now is emmydisney17. The title of the story is called 'Heart of Hope'. If you want to check out the first chapter of the story, well now's your chance. I hope you all enjoy it.

White Hunter, howling out to you and creativity!


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